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Britain’s booming online drugs market proves ‘utter futility of the war on drugs’, campaigners say

The UK’s dark web drugs market now dwarfs any other in Europe

Wednesday 10 August 2016 21:02 BST

The UK’s online drugs market accounted for 16 per cent of global dark web dealing examined by researchers (iStock)

A new study revealing that the UK has Europe’s largest online market for illegal drugs proves the “utter futility of the war on drugs”, reform campaigners have claimed.

After investigating eight of the world’s largest "dark web" market places, researchers for the Rand Europe think-tank found that the UK’s online drugs trade dwarfed that of other European countries and was second in size only to that of the US.

UK dark web sellers were doing 20,748 drug deals worth £1.8m a month – nearly double the 11,039 deals worth £920,000 in Europe’s second largest online drugs market of Germany.

The US had a larger online drugs market, with 28,883 deals worth £3.8m detected in a month, but when relative population sizes were accounted for, the UK had 321 monthly online drugs transactions per million people – more than three times the 90 transactions per million in America.

Rand Europe’s Internet-Facilitated Drugs Trade report also found that the FBI’s success in shutting down the massive dark web marketplace Silk Road in October 2013 did very little to stop the growth of online drug dealing.

Silk Road accounted for nearly all the world’s dark web drug dealing when shut by the FBI, but the report found that by January 2016 the number of monthly online drugs deals had nonetheless tripled, producing global revenues of £10.7m a month – double the £5.35m income generated by Silk Road in its final weeks.

Steve Rolles, a senior policy analyst at the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, which campaigns for the legalisation and Government regulation of drugs, said: “This highlights the utter futility of the war against drugs.

“Each time they shut one down, another site pops up. The idea that eradication or a drug free society can be achieved through enforcement is clearly ridiculous.”

Mr Rolles added that the size of the UK’s online drugs market, accounting for 16 per cent of global dark web dealing examined by researchers, conformed to the historical pattern of the UK consistently being found to have among the highest rates of drugs consumption in Europe.

The UK’s online drugs market, he said, was likely to continue growing as more and more drug users learned how to access the dark web.

“This is the reality UK policy makers have to deal with,” said Mr Rolles. “Clearly an enforcement response does make that problem go away. It just pushes the market somewhere else. The constant mutation and adaptation of the online drugs market is yet another very good example of the futility of an enforcement response.”

World's 10 deadliest street drugs

Show all 10

1/10World's 10 deadliest street drugs

World's 10 deadliest street drugs

Whoonga

Whoonga is a combination of antiretroviral drugs, used to treat HIV, and various cutting agents such as detergents and poisons. The drug is widely available in South Africa due to South Africa’s high rate of HIV sufferers, and is believed to be popular due to how cheap it is when compared to prescribed antiretrovirals. The drug is highly addictive and can cause major health issues such as internal bleeding, stomach ulcers and ultimately death

Getty

World's 10 deadliest street drugs

Scopolamine

Scopolamine is a derivative from the nightshade plant found in the Northern Indian region of South America (Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela). It is generally found in a refined powder form, but can also be found as a tea. The drug is more often used by criminals due its high toxicity level (one gram is believed to be able to kill up to 20 people) making it a strong poison. However, it is also believed that the drug is blown into the faces of unexpecting victims, later causing them to lose all sense of self-control and becoming incapable of forming memories during the time they are under the influence of the drug. This tactic has reportedly been used by gangs in Colombia where there have been reports of people using scopolamine as way to convince victims to rob their own homes

World's 10 deadliest street drugs

Heroin

Founded in 1874 by C. R. Alder Wright, heroin is one of the world’s oldest drugs. Originally it was prescribed as a strong painkiller used to treat chronic pain and physical trauma. However in 1971 it was made illegal under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Since then it has become one of the most destructive substances in the world, tearing apart communities and destroying families. The side effects of heroin include inflammation of the gums, cold sweats, a weak immune system, muscular weakness and insomnia. It can also damage blood vessels which can later cause gangrene if left untreated

World's 10 deadliest street drugs

Crack cocaine

Crack cocaine first came about in the 1980’s when cocaine became a widespread commodity within the drug trafficking world. Originally cocaine would have attracted a high price tag due to its rarity and difficulty to produce, but once it became more widespread the price dropped significantly. This resulted in drug dealers forming their cocaine into rock like shapes by using baking soda as a way of distilling the powder down into rock form. People were doing this because it allowed for them to sell cocaine at a lower quantity and to a higher number of people. The side effects of crack cocaine include liver, kidney and lung damage, as well as permanent damage to blood vessels, which can often lead to heart attacks, strokes, and ultimately death

World's 10 deadliest street drugs

Crystal meth

Not just famous because of a certain Walter H White, but also because it is one of the most destructive drugs in the world. First developed in 1887, it became widely used during the Second World War when both sides would give it to their troops to keep them awake. It is also believed that the Japanese gave it to their Kamikaze pilots before their suicide missions. After the war crystal meth was prescribed as a diet aid and remained legal until the 1970s. Since then it has fallen into the hands of Mexican gangs and has become a worldwide phenomenon, spreading throughout Europe and Asia. The effects of crystal meth are devastating. In the short-term users will become sleep depraved and anxious, and in the long-term it will cause their flesh to sink, as well as brain damage and damage of the blood vessels

World's 10 deadliest street drugs

AH-7921

AH-7921 is a synthetic opioid that was previously available to legally purchase online from vendors until it became a Class A in January 2015. The drug is believed to have 80% of the potency of morphine, and became known as the ‘legal heroin’. While there has only been one death related to AH-7921 in the UK, it is believed to be highly dangerous and capable of causing respiratory arrest and gangrene

World's 10 deadliest street drugs

Flakka

Flakka is a stimulant with a similar chemical make-up to the amphetamine-like drug found in bath salts. While the drug was originally marketed as a legal high alternative to ecstasy, the effects are significantly different. The user will feel an elevated heart rate, enhanced emotions, and, if enough is digested, strong hallucinations. The drug can cause permanent psychological damage due to it affecting the mood regulating neurons that keep the mind’s serotonin and dopamine in check, as well as possibly causing heart failure

World's 10 deadliest street drugs

Bath salts

Bath salts are a synthetic crystalline drug that is prevalent in the US. While they may sound harmless, they certainly aren’t the sort of salts you drop into a warm bath when having a relaxing night in, they are most similar to mephedrone, and have recently been featured throughout social media due to the ‘zombification’ of its. The name comes from the fact that the drug was originally sold online, and widely disguised as bath salts. The side effects include unusual psychiatric behaviour, psychosis, panic attacks and violent behaviour, as well as the possibility of a heart attack and an elevated body temperature

World's 10 deadliest street drugs

Purple Drank

One of the more unusual drugs around at the moment, purple drank was popularised in 90s hip hop culture, with the likes of Jay Z and Big Moe all mentioning it in their songs. It is a concoction of soda water, sweets and cold medicine, and is drunk due to cold medicines high codeine content, which gives the user a woozy feeling. However it can also cause respiratory issues and heart failure

World's 10 deadliest street drugs

Krokodil

Krokodil is Russia’s secret addiction. It is believed that over one million Russians are addicted to the drug. Users of krokodil are attracted to the drug due to its low price; it is sold at £20 a gram while heroin is sold for £60. However, krokodil is considered more dangerous than heroin because it is often homemade, with ingredients including painkillers, iodine, lighter fluid and industrial cleaning agents. This chemical make-up makes the drug highly dangerous and likely to cause gangrene, and eventually rotting of the flesh

This was especially so, he added, because of the money that could now be made through dark web drug dealing.

The report found that the most successful dark web dealer was making £211,592 a month, ten times more than the most successful seller in 2013.

For the average dealer, revenues had increased sevenfold since Silk Road closed in 2013, partly because sellers had become much more active.

Figures from the report also suggested that the UK had the "hardest working" online drug dealers, with the 20,748 deals in January being conducted by 338 sellers.

The rate of 61 sales a month per dealer was significantly higher than in any of the other countries surveyed, with only German dealers, with a monthly rate of 49 sales per individual, being anywhere near as active.

While online drugs sales – amounting to £16m a month at most – are, for the moment at least, dwarfed by offline sales which reach about £1.7bn in Europe alone, the report found possible links between the two markets.

The researchers estimated that between two and six per cent of dark web drug deals – accounting for at least a quarter of all revenue generated online – were "wholesale" purchases, presumably by criminals who planned to sell the substances on the street. The most expensive ‘wholesale’ purchase was a £300,000 order for 10kg of cocaine.

Mr Rolles, who has recently spent time testing drugs at festivals and finding that criminals were duping unsuspecting users into consuming ground up cement or snorting crushed anti-malarial pills, said: “As this report shows, you have to decide between leaving the market to organised crime, street dealers and unregulated online outlets, or having the Government take control and reduce harms to users and the wider community.

“It’s basically a choice between Government regulation and gangsters.”

The Home Office said drug misuse in England and Wales had dropped from 10.5 per cent in 2006 to 8.4 per cent in 2016.

A spokesman said: "Drugs ruin lives and we owe it to all those who have lost loved ones to do everything we can to eradicate this harmful trade. Over the last decade we have seen a reduction in drug misuse by adults and young people and online purchasing of drugs remains a small element of overall drug supply in England and Wales.

"But we are not complacent - the National Crime Agency and police employ a number of tactics to keep drugs off the street. And we continue to work with internet providers to shut down UK-based websites found to be committing offences, building on work already underway to tackle the supply of illegal drugs in the UK and overseas. We also take action across education, prevention, treatment and recovery to reduce harmful drug use.”

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