1. Role of the Internet in the spread of NPS : Learning from the I-TREND project
Moscow, 11-12/07/2017,
Seminar on New Psychoactive Substances, co-organised by
The Moscow department of health care and the Pompidou
Group.
Magali Martinez,
Agnès Cadet-Taïrou
TREND UNIT, OFDT

2.
Co-funded by
The European Union
European project JUST/2012/DPIP/AG/3641 co-financed by the Drug Prevention and Information Program of the European Union.

3. Digital monitoring – The I-TREND project
Online Shops
Supply is expressed through
Demand is expressed through
Both monitored on the surface
web by dedicated programs
Online
Forums

4. Surface web Deep web Dark web Referenced by search engines
Anonymity tools and illegal purpose
Surface web
Referenced by search engines
Deep web
Not referenced and not intended specifically for illegal purpose

5. Online Supply or a digital supply for each country

6. 584 web shops were monitored between November 2013 and May 2014

7. Learning 1
Different national situations cohabit in a global and interconnected market

8. Learning 2 – distribution of web shops per country
The number of web shops per national languages varies a lot
FR= 96 / The NL = 22
Web shops in English are predominant
The UK = 244

9. Learning 3 – Visible and invisibles web shops
Some shops fight for their visibility
Spamdexing practices, duplicates…
But some of them use the opposite strategy:
“Deep web practices” impeding the automate monitoring
Back-store with restricted access,
Display false but legal activities … 9

10. Part of unique and duplicate webshops in May 2014
Concretely,
it means that web shops are less numerous than what they seem to be
most of the countries have around 15% of duplicates, except France that is the one with the most important number and
the CZ offer is the only one made by uniques webshops
Right now, as for the total number of webshops, we cannot explain why countries have those specific situations, 10

11. Learning 4 – web shops and IP geographic location
Some countries have more than other, websites with an IP address located on their own territory

12. Breakdown of active online shops by IP location in May 2014 12

13. Learning 4 – web shops and IP geographic location
American IP address are well represented in each national online market

14. Breakdown of active online shops by IP location in May 2014
It is important to note that the US localisation is well represented in all countries, notably in the british market.
To conclude, 14

15. Learning 4 – web shops and IP geographic location
Transborder links exist between the observed IP address and the targeted country

16. Breakdown of active online shops by IP location in May 2014 16

17. Breakdown of active online shops by IP location in May 2014 17

18. Breakdown of active online shops by IP location in May 2014 18

19. Learning 5 - Type of web shops per country
Market is segmented between two main types
“RC shops” / Research Chemical shops
Commercial shops,
also called smart, head or herbal shops

20. Research Chemical shops
Serious-looking, display NPS by their chemical names and offer them mainly with powder form
Intended to experienced users

21. Commercial shops (smart, herbal, ….)
Seductive layouts and packaging, NPS sold under trade names and in familiar forms (tablets, herbs)…
Intended to naïve users

22. Learning 5 - Type of online shops by country 22

23. Learning 5 - why this breakdown ?
It is possible that retailers adapt their online presence to “national drug preferences”
ESPAD DATA
Besides remember,
Countries used to have brick-and-mortar shops are likely to have high prevalence of NPS,
The United Kingdom, Poland

24. Learning 5 - Type of online shops by country

25. Learning 6 – Dynamics in the online market Span-life of unique webshops
Source: Pazitny, M.(2016)

26. Learning 6 – Dynamics in the online market Span-life of unique webshops
Source: Pazitny, M.(2016)

27. Learning 6 – Dynamics in the online market Arrival of new e-shops per year
Source: Pazitny, M.(2016)

28. Online Demand or The digital audience of NPS

29. related to one or several NPS were monthly collected
Monitoring of 12 national forums (FR, NL, PL, UK) between October and October 2014
The number of views of 5,169
online discussions
related to one or several NPS
were monthly collected

30. Learning 1 - Information on each national drug context
Forums have different sub-culture among them but also at national level
They are more or less
open toward online vendors – dedicated spaces for retailers.
eager to accept publicity on branded products
eager to accept branded names vs chemical names in online discussions
Consequently – Forums are frequented by different type of users
And
Inside those very same groups – the reading activity is
Centred on few substances
Whether it be for UK, NL, PL or FR

31. Very few NPS are discussed
Learning 2
Very few NPS are discussed
Eg. 112 cathinones at EU level,
Only one or two NPS per family really attract users' interest

32. Cathinones in France
2nd Group < 100 views
1st Group < 25 views

33. Cathinones in France, plus 3-MMC
3rd Group > 100 views

34. Learning 3
Each country has its “ NPS national preferences” – often according to prior national problematics
UK, Branded Products, etizolam, ethylphenidate, AL-LAD, LSZ.
NL, 4-FA, 6-APB and 2C-B.
PL, 4-MMC and 3-MMC, Branded Product and blend of synthetic cannabinoids.
FR, 3-MMC and synthetic cannabinoids - with e- liquid form. 34

35. Learning 4
Users’ interest is very steady along time

36. In the Netherlands – Phenethelamines
Threads of 4-FA

37. In Poland - Cathinones
Threads of 4-MMC
Threads of 3-MMC

38. In The United Kingdom – All substances
Threads of Branded products
Threads of Etizolam

39. Learning 5
Example on how much it is important to identify what is the trigger of noticeable changes.

40. In France EDND Families 40

41. E-liquid discussions on > 800 threads
In France EDND Families
Just two
E-liquid discussions on > 800 threads 41

42. Internet as a prevention tool against NPS

43. Internet as a prevention tool
The NPS demand has a dynamic different from the NPS supply
Supply dynamic is very offensive
Demand dynamic is steady, focus on very few compounds / brand names

44. Internet as a prevention tool
What is your national situation regarding NPS ?
Who is the targeted user of your online prevention action ? 44

45. Internet as a prevention tool
Each type of user
Browses the Internet(s) with a specific way
Needs a specific message, in terms of style and content
Regarding youth generation :
Should online prevention be only focused on products or also on the user’s capacity to have a critical mind in front of the information get online ?
Internet as a prevention tool 45

46. Thanks for your attention Спасибо за внимание www.i-trend.eu
Co-funded by The European Union
European project JUST/2012/DPIP/AG/3641 co-financed by the Drug Prevention and Information Program of the European Union.
The author declares no conflicts of interest.

47. For more information…
Belackova, Vendula; and all, Assessing the online availability of 25I-NBOMe, AH-7921, MDPV and
MXE – outcomes of a semi-automated monitoring of e-shops in five EU countries. Under reviewing by « Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy ».
Pazitny, M.(2016) An analysis of webshops with NPS and ther marketing strategies (unpublished thesis). 1st Faculty of Medicine Charles University in Prague.
Martinez, M., Kmetonyová, D., & Belackova, V. (2016). A method for exploring the number of online shops selling new psychoactive substances: initial I­TREND project results. In J. Mounteney, A. Bo & A. Oteo,The internet and drug markets (1st ed., pp. 97­104). Luxembourg: Publications Office of the EU.