On the Darknet, Reputation Is Everything

I would argue that in a lot of cases, people become victims due to the current laws and societal standards surrounding drug use.

The illegality of (for example) heroin drives: * uncertainty of quality/content of drugs purchased --> higher risk of harm/overdose from use * often, reliance on crime to fund --> financial and/or criminal impact on families/friends, and/or wider society * social exclusion of users --> emotional impact on families/friends

If heroin was legal, regulated, freely/cheaply available, and then became no more socially unacceptable than (for example) alcohol or cannabis, then most of the current 'victims' would cease to be victims any longer.

Yes, and they do. Which is why people should rely on the gpg keys of vendors as well as watching forums and other buyers to work out if things have suddenly become suspicious.

This article is total bullshit.

Reviews on SR were rarely negative because the venders didn't do "some bad business". They did really good business, followed by really bad business and disappeared. It was common for vendors to cash out ESPECIALLY on the 4/20 sales and various other sales. They would offer incentives to FE (finalize early, ie release funds from the arbitrage) for months. Then, they would have a big sale. People would FE because they had such good rep, and then the vendors would disappear.

It was a common tactic. I'm not a DNM researcher anymore, but I'm sure it is still a common tactic. I expect that few reliable dealers are around for more than a year. That was certainly the case with SR, and the few that followed quickly in their footsteps.

The new markets are based around forums instead of marketplaces because the markets themselves were bigger targets (everyone considers the forums owned) and the markets offered no real security for buyers or sellers. It was just a costly place to unite the two, and often a source of theft themselves (hacks, or corrupt admins absconding with the funds.)

Acting like it was some sort of utopia is ridiculous. I'm very much on the liberty side of the political landscape, but we don't do anyone any favors by sugar coating the darknet drug industry. The lack of street violence doesn't mean that there aren't wars raging. From the sources of the heroine (mostly from rural Afghanistan), cocaine (mostly from the jungles of South America), and as close as Mexico thousands die at the hands of violent monsters. Go watch some cartel videos on liveleak if you need a reminder.

We don't need to allow ourselves to be satisfied with violence as an externality. We need to consider massive changes in drug policy and defund the violence.

Which part?

‘Victimless’ is a subjective term, and maybe too much to justify it’s use.

Alcohol has some of the worst negative externalities of any drug of abuse. It's a causal factor in a huge proportion of road traffic accidents and domestic violence. It kills about 88,000 Americans annually due to overdose, accidents and chronic illness. Typical recreational doses are inherently toxic.

When we criminalized alcohol, the negative externalities got worse. Gangsters murdered each other in the street for control over distribution. The profits from bootlegging were funnelled into other organised crime. People were blinded and killed by adulterated booze. Billions of dollars were lost in tax revenues. The overall consumption rate towards the end of prohibition was only about 30% lower than before.

The evidence is clear - criminalisation kills. Unless you're in a totalitarian regime with closed borders, you can't stop people from taking drugs. What you can do is effectively regulate the drug market, provide proper care and support services and minimise the harms to drug users.