Researchers at RMIT University conducted a study on illicit drugs bought online, discovering that approximately 35% of these substances did not match their advertised descriptions. This discrepancy poses increased risks such as adverse reactions, potential overdoses, and fatalities.

The research, which appeared in the Drug and Alcohol Review, analysed 103 drug samples acquired from the now-closed dark web site Test4Pay. Findings showed that while 65% of the samples contained the substances they were supposed to, 14% were adulterated with other psychoactive or harmful chemicals alongside the advertised drug. Furthermore, 21% of the samples lacked any of the substances they were purported to contain.

Drugs like MDMA, methamphetamines, and heroin were generally found to be pure. However, those sold as ketamine, 2C-B, and alprazolam often turned out to be entirely different substances or newly synthesized drugs. Out of 19 cocaine samples tested, only four were unadulterated cocaine; the rest were mixed with other substances, and two did not contain cocaine at all.

Monica Barratt, a Senior Research Fellow at RMIT and the study’s lead researcher, expressed concern over these findings. Despite the initial belief that cryptomarkets—dark web online vendors—were less prone to offering adulterated or substituted drugs due to the possibility of negative reviews affecting sales, the results indicated otherwise.

With the closure of Test4Pay, the issue of dark web drug markets may seem diminished, but new ones often emerge to take their place. Interestingly, the 2023 National Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System survey indicated a slight decrease in dark web drug purchases, with a shift towards messaging and social media apps for acquiring drugs.

Given these shifts, Barratt emphasised the growing need for more drug checking services in Australia, noting CanTEST as the country’s sole current service. With Queensland set to introduce such services and Victoria considering them, she highlighted the reluctance in Australia to embrace harm reduction strategies fully, often due to misconceptions that drug checking condones drug use. Instead, these services aim to inform drug users about risks in a factual, non-judgmental manner, helping them make safer choices.

This perspective is somewhat reflected in the United States regarding the debate over safe injection sites, designed to prevent overdoses by providing supervised, sterile environments for drug use. Despite their potential benefits, legislative resistance is evident, with California and Vermont governors vetoing related bills in 2022, and Pennsylvania’s Senate voting against such sites in 2023.

Currently, the only government-sanctioned safe injection site in the U.S. operates in New York City, managed by the nonprofit OnPoint NYC. Additionally, Providence, Rhode Island, recently approved its first safe injection site, and Minnesota has legalised them, though none have opened yet.

A significant development occurred in May 2023, with the U.S. government funding a more than $5 million study over four years to examine the impact of safe injection sites in New York City and Providence. This study, a collaboration between NYU and Brown University, aims to enroll 1,000 adult drug users to assess the sites’ effects on overdose rates and their financial implications for healthcare and criminal justice systems. This grant represents the first instance of U.S. government funding for research into safe injection sites.

Journal Article

Adulteration and substitution of drugs purchased in Australia from cryptomarkets: An analysis of Test4Pay. Published in the Drug and Alcohol Review (DOI: 10.1111/dar.13825)

Monica J. Barratt, Matthew Ball, Gabriel T. W. Wong and Angus Quinton are co-authors.