How accurate are drug cryptomarket listings by content, weight, purity and repeat purchase?

Barratt, Monica J, Coomber, Ross ORCID: 0000-0002-8144-1996, Kowalski, Michala, Aldridge, Judith, Munksgaard, Rasmus, Malm, Aili, Martin, James and Décary-Hétu, David (2024) How accurate are drug cryptomarket listings by content, weight, purity and repeat purchase? Drugs, Habits and Social Policy, 25 (1). pp. 6-18. ISSN 2752-6739, 2752-6747

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Abstract

Purpose: Drug cryptomarkets increase information available to market actors, which should reduce information asymmetry and increase market efficiency. This study aims to determine whether cryptomarket listings accurately represent the advertised substance, weight or number and purity, and whether there are differences in products purchased from the same listing multiple times. Design/methodology/approach: Law enforcement drug purchases – predominantly cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA and heroin – from Australian cryptomarket vendors (n = 38 in 2016/2017) were chemically analysed and matched with cryptomarket listings (n = 23). Descriptive and comparative analyses were conducted. Findings: Almost all samples contained the advertised substance. In most of these cases, drugs were either supplied as-advertised-weight or number, or overweight or number. All listings that quantified purity overestimated the actual purity. There was no consistent relationship between advertised purity terms and actual purity. Across the six listings purchased from multiple times, repeat purchases from the same listing varied in purity, sometimes drastically, with wide variation detected on listings purchased from only one month apart. Research limitations/implications: In this data set, cryptomarket listings were mostly accurate, but the system was far from perfect, with purity overestimated. A newer, larger, globally representative sample should be obtained to test the applicability of these findings to currently operating cryptomarkets. Originality/value: This paper reports on the largest data set of forensic analysis of drug samples obtained from cryptomarkets, where data about advertised drug strength/dose were obtained.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	5201 Applied and Developmental Psychology, 4206 Public Health, 42 Health Sciences, 44 Human Society, 52 Psychology, 4407 Policy and Administration, Substance Misuse, Drug Abuse (NIDA only)
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences > School of Law and Social Justice
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	21 Mar 2024 09:02
Last Modified:	14 Jan 2026 09:10
DOI:	10.1108/DHS-11-2023-0043
Related Websites:	Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3179770
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