New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) in Deep Web Marketplaces (DWM): DR. Fernando Caudevilla Family Physician Energy Control (ABD)

How important are NPS in DWMs? Data from Silk Road 2.0 study 2) Some recent data on other DWMs sales and products 3) Data from Vendor Shops 4) Analysis from harm reduction threads in DWMs forum 5) Drug samples analyzed in International Drug Testing Service from Energy Control .

How important are NPS in DWMs? Data from Silk Road 2.0 study Caudevilla, F. (2014), ‘The importance of NPS in online drug markets: data from Silk Road 2.0’, III International Conference on Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS), Rome, 16/5/14.

Objective: Material and methods: To obtain data about NPS in Silk Road Marketplace Type of substances offered Country of origin (sources of the merchandise) Estimated volume of sales and demand Comparision with traditional drugs Material and methods: Data from all the products offered and sales in Silk Road Marketplace 2.0 were collected from Nov 2013 to May 2013 Kind of product Name of the vendor Country of delivery Number of sales Price Feedback from user Analysis was limited to data from psychoactive, illegal drugs Legal drugs (alcohol, tobacco), prescription drugs, and other products (art, jewels…) and services (money laundering, fake credit cards…) were excluded from analysis Substances were classified as “classical” or “NPS” according to authors structured criteria

RESULTS: Drugs offered

RESULTS: nps offered A total of 195 different NPS compounds (1456 items) are offered SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS n NPS PSYCHEDELICS NPS STIMULANTS ECSTASY DISSOCIATIVES SYNTHETIC OPIOIDS JWH family 42 Tryptamine derivatives 39 Cathinone derivatives 6 Beta-ketones 3 PCP derivatives 4 MT family 1 AM family 11 2C- family 17 Amphetamine derivatives 5 Other Ketamine derivatives 2 AH family HU family 8 DOx family Pyrovalerones CP family NBOMe family Benzofurans URB family 7 PB family AKB family 12 TOTAL 81 74 24

RESULTS: Drugs purchased

RESULTS: Drugs WITH NO SALES vs more than 50 sales TOTAL PRODUCTS OFFERED PRODUCTS WITH ZERO SALES % CLASSICAL 5197 647 12,44% NPS 1456 753 51,17% TOTAL PRODUCTS OFFERED PRODUCTS WITH MORE THAN 50 SALES % CLASSICAL 5197 590 11,35% NPS 1456 28 1,92%

RESULTS: estimated volume of sales CLASSICAL DRUGS 13.474.353 EUR NPS 1.030.920 EUR

RESULTS: PROPORTION OF OFFERED DRUGS WITH COST OVER/BELOW 200 EUR CLASSICAL DRUGS N < 200 EUR >200 EUR STIMULANTS 922 61,4% 38,6% CANNABIS 1864 79,8% 20,2% PSYCHEDELICS 836 81,7% 18,3% ECSTASY 1234 69,5% 30,5% OPIOIDS 159 85,7% 14,3% NPS N <200 EUR >200 EUR STIMULANTS 313 34,6% 65,4% CANNABINOIDS 235 14,6% 85,4% PSYCHEDELICS 654 21,1% 78,9% ECSTASY RELATED 173 57,1% 42,9% OPIOIDS 20 5% 95%

NUMBER OF DRUGS CLASSIFIED BY GEOGRAPHICAL ORIGIN (AS REPORTED BY VENDORS) Etiquetas de fila EUROPE NORTH AMERICA ASIA AUSTRALIA AND NZ AFRICA SOUTH AMERICA UNDECLARED CLASSICAL STIMULANTS 488 211 5 122 2 88 ECSTASY 823 242 14 91 63 CANNABIS 978 730 32 44 13 66 OPIATES 83 51 20 CLASSICAL PSYCHEDELICS 450 246 10 45 84 KETAMINE 17 GHB 43 7 3 24 TOTAL CLASSICAL 2931 1507 80 312 18 347 SYNTHETIC CANNABINOIDS 152 NPS DISSOCIATIVES 12 23 22 NPS ECSTASY RELATED 39 108 NPS PSYCHEDELICS 167 155 29 136 NPS STIMULANTS 52 147 16 SYNTHETIC OPIOIDS TOTAL NPS 372 277 613 36 157

How important are NPS in DWMs? 2) Some recent data on other DWMs sales and products

ABRAXAS MARKETPLACE (October 2015) A total of 5.455 products in the category of “cannabis” were offered Natural cannabis: 3463 (62%) Synthetic cannabinoids : 1992 (38%) Volume of sales: Natural cannabis: 91,2 % Synthetic cannabinoides: 8.8 %

Number of sales in “ecstasy” cathegory in Alphabay marketplace (jun-sept 2015)

How important are NPS in DWMs? 3) Data from Vendor Shops

88,8% (24/27) offered only “classical drugs” DATA FROM “DIRECT VENDOR SHOPS” 27 “direct vendor shops” 88,8% (24/27) offered only “classical drugs” 145 different products offered Cocaine (35,86%), MDMA (28,96%) Cannabis (27,58%) Methamphetamine (6,89%) 2 shops offered NPS Mephedrone ( 1,37%) Synthetic cannabinoids (1,37%)

How important are NPS in DWMs? 4) Analysis from harm reduction threads in DWMs forum

Questions about NPS in an on-line harm reduction service on DWMs

Drug-Checking Service Colorimetric tests Thin Layer Cromatography (TLC) Gas Cromatography/Mass Spectrophotometry(GC/MS) Techniques: Objectives: Contact users and provide information Improve knowledge of drugs market Spread information I spoke you before about the DTS of Energy Control, it is one of our most valuable and appreciated services. Sometimes this service is MISUNDERSTOOD, we are not to say “this drug is good for you, this is not good”. We perceive it as an opportunity to contact users and provide them information, to improve knowledge about drug markets and to spread information (we are part of the TEDI TRANSEUROPEAN DRUG INFORMATION NETWORK and the EARLY WARNING SYSTEM of EMCDDA)

How important are NPS in DWMs? 5) Drug samples analyzed in International Drug Testing Service from Energy Control

International Drug Testing Service: Results 18 months period (March 2014- September 2015) 285 samples analyzed 52 different substances 77,19 % common recreational drugs 14,04% prescription drugs 8,77% NPS  Sample n Only main compound detected Purity b Mean ± SD Range Cocaine 103 51.5% (53/103) 71.6 ± 19.4% 5-99% LSD 15 100.0% (10/10) 123.6 ± 40.5µg 53-195µg MDMA crystal 13 100.0% (13/13) 88.3 ± 1.4% 76-99% MDMA pills 11 100.0% (11/11) 133.3 ± 38.4mg 83-188mg Amphetamine 10 40.0% (4/10) 51.3 ± 33.9% 10-98% Ketamine 6 50.0% (3/6) 71.3 ± 38.4% 27-95% Cannabis resin 5 100.0% (5/5) THC: 16.5 ± 7.5% CBD: 3.4 ± 1.5% THC: 9.1-16.4% CBD: 1.6-5.3%

DISCUSSION On-line drug markets are an emergent tendency that must be followed and monitored Internet and on-line markets can provide valuable information (including NPS) In “free market conditions” drug users choose preferently “classic drugs” than NPS Limitations: Are data reliable? Are data extrapolable to other markets? Do NPS users buy drugs in on-line markets? Are NPS be used as adulterants to classical drugs?

Conclussions: Importance of NPS in DWM seems limited There is a wide offer of NPS available to users, but, in general, they prefer classical drugs. Methoxetamine and 25-x-NBOMe seem the most popular substances in their cathegories. Importance of synthetic cannabinoids seem limited. Some NPS are being sold in great amounts, possibly indicating drug traffic instead of personal use It is important to pay attention to online drug markets, as emergent tendencies.