When the darknet entered public consciousness in the early 2010s, it was widely treated as the seedy underbelly of the internet, reserved for thieves, hackers, and predators of all kinds.
Now, more people are buying their drugs on the dark web than any other time in recorded history.
Online trade in illicit drugs has boomed during the last decade, with the percentage of people who reported buying their drugs from darknet vendors tripling since 2014, according to the latest Global Drug Survey.
Global Drug Survey first started measuring this trend in 2014, when 4.7 percent of respondents procured their drugs from darknet marketplaces. Over the past 7 years, there have been incremental increases – between 0.3 percent and 1.7 percent – but never as significant as the surge in 2020.
2020 saw darknet users jump from 10.7 percent to 15 percent, a threefold increase since 2014.
Speaking to VICE, Dr Monica Barratt (co-lead researcher of the GDS) attributed this continued growth in the consumer base using these sites to cultural and generational differences.
“If you buy everything online, why wouldn’t you also buy your drugs online?”
Accessed using Tor, these markets allow sellers and purchasers to remain relatively anonymous and untraceable, with transactions completed using Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.
Darknet markets also face lower rate of scams and higher drug purity than the street drug trade, as well as greater protection from physical risk of interpersonal violence.
Over the course of 2020, darknet markets raked in a record $1.7 billion worth of cryptocurrencies – with Russian language market Hydra responsible for 75% of that figure!
Take part in the Global Drug Survey 2021 here
Read more: How Darknet Dealers Are Taking Advantage of the Covid-19 Pandemic
