Results of an international drug testing service for cryptomarket users Mireia Ventura· ABD – Energy Control 15th May 2017

Energy Control’s Drug Checking Our drug checking service has analysed almost 30.000 samples, mainly recreational drugs suchas cocaine, ecstasy and amphetamines.

International Drug Checking Service aC Between March 2014 to May 2017 we analyzed 2,627 samples, purchased from more than 50 countries

Why work with Cryptomarkets? A tool for advice and harm reduction A public health perspective An opportunity for research

Comparative traditional markets vs cryptomarkets 34 months period of study (March 2014-December 2016) 15.054 samples analyzed 1.737 samples from Deep Web (11,47%) 13.317 samples from traditional markets (88,53%) Subsample studied (n=9.103). Most analyzed drugs   Deep Web Samples Traditional Market Samples TOTAL Cocaine 193 2689 2882 Speed 196 1851 2047 MDMA 269 2741 3010 LSD 126 465 591 Ketamine 58 515 573 842 8261 9.103

Analyzed substances by type of market Between March 2014 to May 2017 we analyzed 2,627 samples, purchased from more than 50 countries

NPS in Deep web markets Number of users purchasing NPS from cryptomarkets is high. Source: Alphabay Source: Alphabay Deep web Markets seem to be the place where NPS can be sold in countries where they are banned.

Ecstasy: purities in both markets The adulteration of Ecstasy is pretty low in the Deep web, specially when is sold in Pills. In the case of MDMA the Deep Web seems to be much more effective when it comes to reacting to Warnings than traditional markets.

Cocaine: purities in both markets Cocaine samples are highly adulterated in both markets although purity seems higher in cryptomarkets. Deep web samples purity drop in 2015. The last year purity levels rose in both markets reducing the differences between both of them.

Speed: purities in both markets Purity levels of amphetamine in 2014 in the Deep Web were much higher. However, they dropped in the next two years and reached lower levels than traditional market (that remained more stable)

LSD: purities in both markets Purity in LSD seems higher, in general trends, in Cryptomarkets However, LSD seems to show different tendencies in both markets compared with other drugs.

Ketamine: purities in both markets The amount of Ketamine samples purchased in the Deep Web is low compared with other drugs. However, purity seems higher. The reported case of Ketamine scarcity in 2015 shows how both traditional and cryptomarkets were affected in similar ways.

Warnings in the deep web

Conclusions The deep web offers a good environment in which professionals have great challenges to implement risk reduction strategies. Cryptomarkets are a new phenomenon, therefore we can only observe short trends in the composition of drugs (and these are different for every drug). The most analyzed drugs are the ones most consumed at parties. However, number of users purchasing NPS from cryptomarkets is high. In general terms, the proportion of tainted samples is lower in Cryptomarkets compared with traditional markets. There are exceptions such as amphetamine in 2016 or LSD in 2015, where levels of purity in the Deep Web dropped under levels of traditional markets. In the case of MDMA the Deep Web seems to be much more effective when it comes to reacting to Warnings than traditional markets. That is probably the reason why there is very little adulteration detected in Pills sold in Cryptomarkets. Speed and Cocaine are the most adulterated substances. In the case of cocaine, most adulterants are highly toxic. The reported case Ketamine scarcity in 2015 shows how both traditional and cryptomarkets were affected in similar ways.

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