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<div id="readability-page-1" class="page">
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<div>
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<div class="section-inner u-sizeFullWidth">
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<figure name="b9ad" id="b9ad" class="graf--figure postField--fillWidthImage graf--first">
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<div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked">
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<img class="graf-image" data-image-id="1*sLDnS1UWEFIS33uLMxq3cw.jpeg"
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data-width="2100" data-height="1402" src="https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/2000/1*sLDnS1UWEFIS33uLMxq3cw.jpeg">
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</div>
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</figure>
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</div>
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<div class="section-inner layoutSingleColumn">
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<h4 name="9736" id="9736" data-align="center" class="graf--h4">Welcome to DoctorX’s Barcelona lab, where the drugs you bought online are tested for safety and purity. No questions asked.</h4>
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<figure name="7417" id="7417" class="graf--figure">
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<div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked">
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<img class="graf-image" data-image-id="1*3vIhkoHIzcxvUdijoCVx6w.png" data-width="1200"
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data-height="24" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*3vIhkoHIzcxvUdijoCVx6w.png"
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src="https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/800/1*3vIhkoHIzcxvUdijoCVx6w.png">
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</div>
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</figure>
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<p name="8a83" id="8a83" class="graf--p">Standing at a table in a chemistry lab in Barcelona, Cristina Gil Lladanosa
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tears open a silver, smell-proof protective envelope. She slides out a
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transparent bag full of crystals. Around her, machines whir and hum, and
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other researchers mill around in long, white coats.</p>
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<p name="b675" id="b675"
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class="graf--p">She is holding the lab’s latest delivery of a drug bought from the “deep
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web,” the clandestine corner of the internet that isn’t reachable by normal
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search engines, and is home to some sites that require special software
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to access. Labeled as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDMA" data-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDMA"
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class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow">MDMA</a> (the street
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term is ecstasy), this sample has been shipped from Canada. Lladanosa and
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her colleague Iván Fornís Espinosa have also received drugs, anonymously,
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from people in China, Australia, Europe and the United States.</p>
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<p name="3c0b"
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id="3c0b" class="graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote">“Here we have speed, MDMA, cocaine, pills,” Lladanosa says, pointing to
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vials full of red, green, blue and clear solutions sitting in labeled boxes.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="section-inner u-sizeFullWidth">
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<figure name="c4e6" id="c4e6" class="graf--figure postField--fillWidthImage">
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<div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked">
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<img class="graf-image" data-image-id="1*4gN1-fzOwCniw-DbqQjDeQ.jpeg"
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data-width="2100" data-height="1402" src="https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/2000/1*4gN1-fzOwCniw-DbqQjDeQ.jpeg">
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</div>
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<figcaption class="imageCaption">Cristina Gil Lladanosa, at the Barcelona testing lab | photo by Joan Bardeletti</figcaption>
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</figure>
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</div>
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<div class="section-inner layoutSingleColumn">
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<p name="7a54" id="7a54" class="graf--p">Since 2011, with the launch of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road_%28marketplace%29"
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data-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road_%28marketplace%29" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor"
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|
rel="nofollow">Silk Road</a>, anybody has been able to safely buy illegal
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drugs from the deep web and have them delivered to their door. Though the
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FBI shut down that black market in October 2013, other outlets have emerged
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to fill its role. For the last 10 months the lab at which Lladanosa and
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Espinosa work has offered a paid testing service of those drugs. By sending
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in samples for analysis, users can know exactly what it is they are buying,
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and make a more informed decision about whether to ingest the substance.
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The group, called <a href="http://energycontrol.org/" data-href="http://energycontrol.org/"
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class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow">Energy Control</a>,
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which has being running “harm reduction” programs since 1999, is the first
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to run a testing service explicitly geared towards verifying those purchases
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from the deep web.</p>
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<p name="4395" id="4395" class="graf--p">Before joining Energy Control, Lladanosa briefly worked at a pharmacy,
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whereas Espinosa spent 14 years doing drug analysis. Working at Energy
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Control is “more gratifying,” and “rewarding” than her previous jobs, Lladanosa
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told me. They also receive help from a group of volunteers, made up of
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a mixture of “squatters,” as Espinosa put it, and medical students, who
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prepare the samples for testing.</p>
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<p name="0c18" id="0c18" class="graf--p">After weighing out the crystals, aggressively mixing it with methanol
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|
until dissolved, and delicately pouring the liquid into a tiny brown bottle,
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|
Lladanosa, a petite woman who is nearly engulfed by her lab coat, is now
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|
ready to test the sample. She loads a series of three trays on top of a
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|
large white appliance sitting on a table, called a gas chromatograph (GC).
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|
A jungle of thick pipes hang from the lab’s ceiling behind it.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="section-inner u-sizeFullWidth">
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<figure name="559c" id="559c" class="graf--figure postField--fillWidthImage">
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<div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked">
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<img class="graf-image" data-image-id="1*2KPmZkIBUrhps-2uwDvYFQ.jpeg"
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data-width="2100" data-height="1402" src="https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/2000/1*2KPmZkIBUrhps-2uwDvYFQ.jpeg">
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</div>
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<figcaption class="imageCaption">Photo by Joan Bardeletti</figcaption>
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</figure>
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</div>
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<div class="section-inner layoutSingleColumn">
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<p name="1549" id="1549" class="graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote">“Chromatography separates all the substances,” Lladanosa says as she loads
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the machine with an array of drugs sent from the deep web and local Spanish
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users. It can tell whether a sample is pure or contaminated, and if the
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|
latter, with what.</p>
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|
<p name="5d0f" id="5d0f" class="graf--p">Rushes of hot air blow across the desk as the gas chromatograph blasts
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|
the sample at 280 degrees Celsius. Thirty minutes later the machine’s robotic
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|
arm automatically moves over to grip another bottle. The machine will continue
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|
cranking through the 150 samples in the trays for most of the work week.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="section-inner u-sizeFullWidth">
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<figure name="d6aa" id="d6aa" class="graf--figure postField--fillWidthImage">
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<div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked">
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<img class="graf-image" data-image-id="1*PU40bbbox2Ompc5I3RE99A.jpeg"
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data-width="2013" data-height="1241" src="https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/2000/1*PU40bbbox2Ompc5I3RE99A.jpeg">
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</div>
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<figcaption class="imageCaption">Photo by Joan Bardeletti</figcaption>
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</figure>
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</div>
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<div class="section-inner layoutSingleColumn">
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<p name="15e0" id="15e0" class="graf--p">To get the drugs to Barcelona, a user mails at least 10 milligrams of
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|
|
a substance to the offices of the Asociación Bienestar y Desarrollo, the
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|
|
non-government organization that oversees Energy Control. The sample then
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|
|
gets delivered to the testing service’s laboratory, at the Barcelona Biomedical
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|
Research Park, a futuristic, seven story building sitting metres away from
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|
|
the beach. Energy Control borrows its lab space from a biomedical research
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|
group for free.</p>
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|
<p name="2574" id="2574" class="graf--p">The tests cost 50 Euro per sample. Users pay, not surprisingly, with Bitcoin.
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|
|
In the post announcing Energy Control’s service on the deep web, the group
|
|
|
promised that “All profits of this service are set aside of maintenance
|
|
|
of this project.”</p>
|
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|
<p name="2644" id="2644" class="graf--p">About a week after testing, those results are sent in a PDF to an email
|
|
|
address provided by the anonymous client.</p>
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|
<p name="9f91" id="9f91" class="graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote">“The process is quite boring, because you are in a routine,” Lladanosa
|
|
|
says. But one part of the process is consistently surprising: that moment
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|
|
when the results pop up on the screen. “Every time it’s something different.”
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|
|
For instance, one cocaine sample she had tested also contained phenacetin,
|
|
|
a painkiller added to increase the product’s weight; lidocaine, an anesthetic
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|
|
that numbs the gums, giving the impression that the user is taking higher
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|
|
quality cocaine; and common caffeine.</p>
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|
<figure name="b821" id="b821"
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class="graf--figure">
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|
<div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked">
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<img class="graf-image" data-image-id="1*ohyycinH18fz98TCyUzVgQ.png" data-width="1200"
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data-height="24" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*ohyycinH18fz98TCyUzVgQ.png"
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src="https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/800/1*ohyycinH18fz98TCyUzVgQ.png">
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</div>
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</figure>
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|
<p name="39a6" id="39a6" class="graf--p">The deep web drug lab is the brainchild of Fernando Caudevilla, a Spanish
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|
|
physician who is better known as “DoctorX” on the deep web, a nickname
|
|
|
given to him by his Energy Control co-workers because of his earlier writing
|
|
|
about the history, risks and recreational culture of MDMA. In the physical
|
|
|
world, Caudevilla has worked for over a decade with Energy Control on various
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|
|
harm reduction focused projects, most of which have involved giving Spanish
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|
|
illegal drug users medical guidance, and often writing leaflets about the
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|
|
harms of certain substances.</p>
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
<div class="section-inner u-sizeFullWidth">
|
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|
<figure name="eebc" id="eebc" class="graf--figure postField--fillWidthImage">
|
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|
<div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked">
|
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|
<img class="graf-image" data-image-id="1*mKvUNOAVQxl6atCbxbCZsg.jpeg"
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|
data-width="2100" data-height="1241" src="https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/2000/1*mKvUNOAVQxl6atCbxbCZsg.jpeg">
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</div>
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|
<figcaption class="imageCaption">Fernando Caudevilla, AKA DoctorX. Photo: Joseph Cox</figcaption>
|
|
|
</figure>
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
<div class="section-inner layoutSingleColumn">
|
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|
<p name="c099" id="c099" class="graf--p">Caudevilla first ventured into Silk Road forums in April 2013. “I would
|
|
|
like to contribute to this forum offering professional advice in topics
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|
|
related to drug use and health,” he wrote in an <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20131015051405/https://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion.to/index.php?topic=147607.0"
|
|
|
data-href="http://web.archive.org/web/20131015051405/https://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion.to/index.php?topic=147607.0"
|
|
|
class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow">introductory post</a>,
|
|
|
using his DoctorX alias. Caudevilla offered to provide answers to questions
|
|
|
that a typical doctor is not prepared, or willing, to respond to, at least
|
|
|
not without a lecture or a judgment. “This advice cannot replace a complete
|
|
|
face-to-face medical evaluation,” he wrote, “but I know how difficult it
|
|
|
can be to talk frankly about these things.”</p>
|
|
|
<p name="ff1d" id="ff1d"
|
|
|
class="graf--p">The requests flooded in. A diabetic asked what effect MDMA has on blood
|
|
|
sugar; another what the risks of frequent psychedelic use were for a young
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|
|
person. Someone wanted to know whether amphetamine use should be avoided
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|
|
during lactation. In all, Fernando’s thread received over 50,000 visits
|
|
|
and 300 questions before the FBI shut down Silk Road.</p>
|
|
|
<p name="1f35"
|
|
|
id="1f35" class="graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote">“He’s amazing. A gift to this community,” one user wrote on the Silk Road
|
|
|
2.0 forum, a site that sprang up after the original. “His knowledge is
|
|
|
invaluable, and never comes with any judgment.” Up until recently, Caudevilla
|
|
|
answered questions on the marketplace “Evolution.” Last week, however,
|
|
|
the administrators of that site <a href="http://motherboard.vice.com/read/one-of-the-darknets-biggest-markets-may-have-just-stole-all-its-users-bitcoin"
|
|
|
data-href="http://motherboard.vice.com/read/one-of-the-darknets-biggest-markets-may-have-just-stole-all-its-users-bitcoin"
|
|
|
class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow">pulled a scam</a>,
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|
|
shutting the market down and escaping with an estimated $12 million worth
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|
|
of Bitcoin.</p>
|
|
|
<p name="b20f" id="b20f" class="graf--p">Caudevilla’s transition from dispensing advice to starting up a no-questions-asked
|
|
|
drug testing service came as a consequence of his experience on the deep
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|
|
web. He’d wondered whether he could help bring more harm reduction services
|
|
|
to a marketplace without controls. The Energy Control project, as part
|
|
|
of its mandate of educating drug users and preventing harm, had already
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|
|
been carrying out drug testing for local Spanish users since 2001, at music
|
|
|
festivals, night clubs, or through a drop-in service at a lab in Madrid.</p>
|
|
|
<p
|
|
|
name="f739" id="f739" class="graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote">“I thought, we are doing this in Spain, why don’t we do an international
|
|
|
drug testing service?” Caudevilla told me when I visited the other Energy
|
|
|
Control lab, in Madrid. Caudevilla, a stocky character with ear piercings
|
|
|
and short, shaved hair, has eyes that light up whenever he discusses the
|
|
|
world of the deep web. Later, via email, he elaborated that it was not
|
|
|
a hard sell. “It was not too hard to convince them,” he wrote me. Clearly,
|
|
|
Energy Control believed that the reputation he had earned as an unbiased
|
|
|
medical professional on the deep web might carry over to the drug analysis
|
|
|
service, where one needs to establish “credibility, trustworthiness, [and]
|
|
|
transparency,” Caudevilla said. “We could not make mistakes,” he added.</p>
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
<div class="section-inner u-sizeFullWidth">
|
|
|
<figure name="4058" id="4058" class="graf--figure postField--fillWidthImage">
|
|
|
<div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked">
|
|
|
<img class="graf-image" data-image-id="1*knT10_FNVUmqQIBLnutmzQ.jpeg"
|
|
|
data-width="4400" data-height="3141" src="https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/2000/1*knT10_FNVUmqQIBLnutmzQ.jpeg">
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
<figcaption class="imageCaption">Photo: Joseph Cox</figcaption>
|
|
|
</figure>
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
<div class="section-inner layoutSingleColumn">
|
|
|
<figure name="818c" id="818c" class="graf--figure">
|
|
|
<div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked">
|
|
|
<img class="graf-image" data-image-id="1*ohyycinH18fz98TCyUzVgQ.png" data-width="1200"
|
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|
data-height="24" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*ohyycinH18fz98TCyUzVgQ.png"
|
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|
src="https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/800/1*ohyycinH18fz98TCyUzVgQ.png">
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
</figure>
|
|
|
<p name="7b5e" id="7b5e" class="graf--p">While the Energy Control lab in Madrid lab only tests Spanish drugs from
|
|
|
various sources, it is the Barcelona location which vets the substances
|
|
|
bought in the shadowy recesses of of the deep web. Caudevilla no longer
|
|
|
runs it, having handed it over to his colleague Ana Muñoz. She maintains
|
|
|
a presence on the deep web forums, answers questions from potential users,
|
|
|
and sends back reports when they are ready.</p>
|
|
|
<p name="0f0e" id="0f0e"
|
|
|
class="graf--p">The testing program exists in a legal grey area. The people who own the
|
|
|
Barcelona lab are accredited to experiment with and handle drugs, but Energy
|
|
|
Control doesn’t have this permission itself, at least not in writing.</p>
|
|
|
<p
|
|
|
name="e002" id="e002" class="graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote">“We have a verbal agreement with the police and other authorities. They
|
|
|
already know what we are doing,” Lladanosa tells me. It is a pact of mutual
|
|
|
benefit. Energy Control provides the police with information on batches
|
|
|
of drugs in Spain, whether they’re from the deep web or not, Espinosa says.
|
|
|
They also contribute to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug
|
|
|
Addiction’s early warning system, a collaboration that attempts to spread
|
|
|
information about dangerous drugs as quickly as possible.</p>
|
|
|
<p name="db1b"
|
|
|
id="db1b" class="graf--p">By the time of my visit in February, Energy Control had received over
|
|
|
150 samples from the deep web and have been receiving more at a rate of
|
|
|
between 4 and 8 a week. Traditional drugs, such as cocaine and MDMA, make
|
|
|
up about 70 percent of the samples tested, but the Barcelona lab has also
|
|
|
received samples of the prescription pill codeine, research chemicals and
|
|
|
synthetic cannabinoids, and even pills of Viagra.</p>
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
<div class="section-inner u-sizeFullWidth">
|
|
|
<figure name="b885" id="b885" class="graf--figure postField--fillWidthImage">
|
|
|
<div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked">
|
|
|
<img class="graf-image" data-image-id="1*Vr61dyCTRwk6CemmVF8YAQ.jpeg"
|
|
|
data-width="2100" data-height="1402" src="https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/2000/1*Vr61dyCTRwk6CemmVF8YAQ.jpeg">
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
<figcaption class="imageCaption">Photo by Joan Bardeletti</figcaption>
|
|
|
</figure>
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
<div class="section-inner layoutSingleColumn">
|
|
|
<p name="e76f" id="e76f" class="graf--p">So it’s fair to make a tentative judgement on what people are paying for
|
|
|
on the deep web. The verdict thus far? Overall, drugs on the deep web appear
|
|
|
to be of much higher quality than those found on the street.</p>
|
|
|
<p name="5352"
|
|
|
id="5352" class="graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote">“In general, the cocaine is amazing,” says Caudevilla, saying that the
|
|
|
samples they’ve seen have purities climbing towards 80 or 90 percent, and
|
|
|
some even higher. To get an idea of how unusual this is, take a look at
|
|
|
the <a href="http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr2014/Cocaine_2014_web.pdf"
|
|
|
data-href="http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr2014/Cocaine_2014_web.pdf"
|
|
|
class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow">United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime World Drug Report 2014</a>,
|
|
|
which reports that the average quality of street cocaine in Spain is just
|
|
|
over 40 percent, while in the United Kingdom it is closer to 30 percent.“We
|
|
|
have found 100 percent [pure] cocaine,” he adds. “That’s really, really
|
|
|
strange. That means that, technically, this cocaine has been purified,
|
|
|
with clandestine methods.”</p>
|
|
|
<p name="a71c" id="a71c" class="graf--p">Naturally, identifying vendors who sell this top-of-the-range stuff is
|
|
|
one of the reasons that people have sent samples to Energy Control. Caudevilla
|
|
|
was keen to stress that, officially, Energy Control’s service “is not intended
|
|
|
to be a control of drug quality,” meaning a vetting process for identifying
|
|
|
the best sellers, but that is exactly how some people have been using it.</p>
|
|
|
<p
|
|
|
name="cb5b" id="cb5b" class="graf--p">As one buyer on the Evolution market, elmo666, wrote to me over the site’s
|
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|
messaging system, “My initial motivations were selfish. My primary motivation
|
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was to ensure that I was receiving and continue to receive a high quality
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product, essentially to keep the vendor honest as far as my interactions
|
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with them went.”</p>
|
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<p name="d80d" id="d80d" class="graf--p">Vendors on deep web markets advertise their product just like any other
|
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|
outlet does, using flash sales, gimmicky giveaways and promises of drugs
|
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|
that are superior to those of their competitors. The claims, however, can
|
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|
turn out to be empty: despite the test results that show that deep web
|
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|
cocaine vendors typically sell product that is of a better quality than
|
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|
that found on the street, in plenty of cases, the drugs are nowhere near
|
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|
as pure as advertised.</p>
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<p name="36de" id="36de" class="graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote">“You won’t be getting anything CLOSE to what you paid for,” one user complained
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|
about the cocaine from ‘Mirkov’, a vendor on Evolution. “He sells 65% not
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95%.”</p>
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</div>
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<div class="section-inner u-sizeFullWidth">
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<figure name="8544" id="8544" class="graf--figure postField--fillWidthImage">
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<div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked">
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<img class="graf-image" data-image-id="1*a-1_13xE6_ErQ-QSlz6myw.jpeg"
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data-width="2100" data-height="1402" src="https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/2000/1*a-1_13xE6_ErQ-QSlz6myw.jpeg">
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</div>
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<figcaption class="imageCaption">Photo by Joan Bardeletti</figcaption>
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</figure>
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</div>
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<div class="section-inner layoutSingleColumn">
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<figure name="d521" id="d521" class="graf--figure">
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<div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked">
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<img class="graf-image" data-image-id="1*ohyycinH18fz98TCyUzVgQ.png" data-width="1200"
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data-height="24" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*ohyycinH18fz98TCyUzVgQ.png"
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src="https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/800/1*ohyycinH18fz98TCyUzVgQ.png">
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</div>
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</figure>
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<p name="126b" id="126b" class="graf--p">Despite the prevalence of people using the service to gauge the quality
|
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|
of what goes up their nose, many users send samples to Energy Control in
|
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|
the spirit of its original mission: keeping themselves alive and healthy.
|
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|
The worst case scenario from drugs purchased on the deep web is, well the
|
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|
worst case. That was the outcome when <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/teenager-patrick-mcmullen-who-died-while-on-skype-had-bought-drugs-from-silk-road-8942329.html"
|
|
|
data-href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/teenager-patrick-mcmullen-who-died-while-on-skype-had-bought-drugs-from-silk-road-8942329.html"
|
|
|
class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow">Patrick McMullen,</a> a
|
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|
17-year-old Scottish student, ingested half a gram of MDMA and three tabs
|
|
|
of LSD, reportedly purchased from the Silk Road. While talking to his friends
|
|
|
on Skype, his words became slurred and he passed out. Paramedics could
|
|
|
not revive him. The coroner for that case, Sherrif Payne, who deemed the
|
|
|
cause of death ecstasy toxicity, told <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">The Independent</em> “You
|
|
|
never know the purity of what you are taking and you can easily come unstuck.”</p>
|
|
|
<p
|
|
|
name="5e9e" id="5e9e" class="graf--p">ScreamMyName, a deep web user who has been active since the original Silk
|
|
|
Road, wants to alert users to the dangerous chemicals that are often mixed
|
|
|
with drugs, and is using Energy Control as a means to do so.</p>
|
|
|
<p name="19a6"
|
|
|
id="19a6" class="graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote">“We’re at a time where some vendors are outright sending people poison.
|
|
|
Some do it unknowingly,” ScreamMyName told me in an encrypted message.
|
|
|
“Cocaine production in South America is often tainted with either levamisole
|
|
|
or phenacetine. Both poison to humans and both with severe side effects.”</p>
|
|
|
<p
|
|
|
name="9fef" id="9fef" class="graf--p">In the case of Levamisole, those prescribing it are often not doctors
|
|
|
but veterinarians, as Levamisole is commonly used on animals, primarily
|
|
|
for the treatment of worms. If ingested by humans it can lead to cases
|
|
|
of extreme eruptions of the skin, as <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22127712"
|
|
|
data-href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22127712" class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor"
|
|
|
rel="nofollow">documented in a study</a> from researchers at the University
|
|
|
of California, San Francisco. But Lladanosa has found Levamisole in cocaine
|
|
|
samples; dealers use it to increase the product weight, allowing them to
|
|
|
stretch their batch further for greater profit — and also, she says, because
|
|
|
Levamisole has a strong stimulant effect.</p>
|
|
|
<p name="7886" id="7886" class="graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote">“It got me sick as fuck,” Dr. Feel, an Evolution user, wrote on the site’s
|
|
|
forums after consuming cocaine that had been cut with 23 percent Levamisole,
|
|
|
and later tested by Energy Control. “I was laid up in bed for several days
|
|
|
because of that shit. The first night I did it, I thought I was going to
|
|
|
die. I nearly drove myself to the ER.”</p>
|
|
|
<p name="18d3" id="18d3" class="graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote">“More people die because of tainted drugs than the drugs themselves,”
|
|
|
Dr. Feel added. “It’s the cuts and adulterants that are making people sick
|
|
|
and killing them.”</p>
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
<div class="section-inner u-sizeFullWidth">
|
|
|
<figure name="552a" id="552a" class="graf--figure postField--fillWidthImage">
|
|
|
<div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked">
|
|
|
<img class="graf-image" data-image-id="1*IWXhtSsVv0gNnCwnDEXk-Q.jpeg"
|
|
|
data-width="2100" data-height="1192" src="https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/2000/1*IWXhtSsVv0gNnCwnDEXk-Q.jpeg">
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
<figcaption class="imageCaption">Photo by Joan Bardeletti</figcaption>
|
|
|
</figure>
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
<div class="section-inner layoutSingleColumn">
|
|
|
<p name="839a" id="839a" class="graf--p">The particular case of cocaine cut with Levamisole is one of the reasons
|
|
|
that ScreamMyName has been pushing for more drug testing on the deep web
|
|
|
markets. “I recognize that drug use isn’t exactly healthy, but why exacerbate
|
|
|
the problem?” he told me when I contacted him after his post. “[Energy
|
|
|
Control] provides a way for users to test the drugs they’ll use and for
|
|
|
these very users to know what it is they’re putting in their bodies. Such
|
|
|
services are in very short supply.”</p>
|
|
|
<p name="18dc" id="18dc" class="graf--p">After sending a number of Energy Control tests himself, ScreamMyName started
|
|
|
a de facto crowd-sourcing campaign to get more drugs sent to the lab, and
|
|
|
then shared the results, after throwing in some cash to get the ball rolling.
|
|
|
<a
|
|
|
href="https://blockchain.info/address/1Mi6VjMFqjcD48FPV7cnPB24MAtQQenRy3"
|
|
|
data-href="https://blockchain.info/address/1Mi6VjMFqjcD48FPV7cnPB24MAtQQenRy3"
|
|
|
class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow">He set up a Bitcoin wallet</a>, with the hope that users might chip in
|
|
|
to fund further tests. At the time of writing, the wallet has received
|
|
|
a total of 1.81 bitcoins; around $430 at today’s exchange rates.</p>
|
|
|
<p
|
|
|
name="dcbd" id="dcbd" class="graf--p">In posts to the Evolution community, ScreamMyName pitched this project
|
|
|
as something that will benefit users and keep drug dealer honest. “When
|
|
|
the funds build up to a point where we can purchase an [Energy Control]
|
|
|
test fee, we’ll do a US thread poll for a few days and try to cohesively
|
|
|
decide on what vendor to test,” he continued.</p>
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
<div class="section-inner u-sizeFullWidth">
|
|
|
<figure name="9d32" id="9d32" class="graf--figure postField--fillWidthImage">
|
|
|
<div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked">
|
|
|
<img class="graf-image" data-image-id="1*NGcrjfkV0l37iQH2uyYjEw.jpeg"
|
|
|
data-width="1368" data-height="913" src="https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/2000/1*NGcrjfkV0l37iQH2uyYjEw.jpeg">
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
<figcaption class="imageCaption">Photo by Joan Bardeletti</figcaption>
|
|
|
</figure>
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
<div class="section-inner layoutSingleColumn">
|
|
|
<p name="bff6" id="bff6" class="graf--p">Other members of the community have been helping out, too. PlutoPete,
|
|
|
a vendor from the original Silk Road who sold cannabis seeds and other
|
|
|
legal items, has provided ScreamMyName with packaging to safely send the
|
|
|
samples to Barcelona. “A box of baggies, and a load of different moisture
|
|
|
barrier bags,” PlutoPete told me over the phone. “That’s what all the vendors
|
|
|
use.”</p>
|
|
|
<p name="bb78" id="bb78" class="graf--p">It’s a modest program so far. ScreamMyName told me that so far he had
|
|
|
gotten enough public funding to purchase five different Energy Control
|
|
|
tests, in addition to the ten or so he’s sent himself so far. “The program
|
|
|
created is still in its infancy and it is growing and changing as we go
|
|
|
along but I have a lot of faith in what we’re doing,” he says.</p>
|
|
|
<p name="5638"
|
|
|
id="5638" class="graf--p">But the spirit is contagious: elmo666, the other deep web user testing
|
|
|
cocaine, originally kept the results of the drug tests to himself, but
|
|
|
he, too, saw a benefit to distributing the data. “It is clear that it is
|
|
|
a useful service to other users, keeping vendors honest and drugs (and
|
|
|
their users) safe,” he told me. He started to report his findings to others
|
|
|
on the forums, and then created a thread with summaries of the test results,
|
|
|
as well as comments from the vendors if they provided it. Other users were
|
|
|
soon basing their decisions on what to buy on elmo666‘s tests.</p>
|
|
|
<p name="de75"
|
|
|
id="de75" class="graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote">“I’m defo trying the cola based on the incredibly helpful elmo and his
|
|
|
energy control results and recommendations,” wrote user jayk1984. On top
|
|
|
of this, elmo666 plans to launch an independent site on the deep web that
|
|
|
will collate all of these results, which should act as a resource for users
|
|
|
of all the marketplaces.</p>
|
|
|
<p name="6b72" id="6b72" class="graf--p">As word of elmo666's efforts spread, he began getting requests from drug
|
|
|
dealers who wanted him to use their wares for testing. Clearly, they figured
|
|
|
that a positive result from Energy Control would be a fantastic marketing
|
|
|
tool to draw more customers. They even offered elmo666 free samples. (He
|
|
|
passed.)</p>
|
|
|
<p name="b008" id="b008" class="graf--p">Meanwhile, some in the purchasing community are arguing that those running
|
|
|
markets on the deep web should be providing quality control themselves.
|
|
|
PlutoPete told me over the phone that he had been in discussions about
|
|
|
this with Dread Pirate Roberts, the pseudonymous owner of the original
|
|
|
Silk Road site. “We [had been] talking about that on a more organized basis
|
|
|
on Silk Road 1, doing lots of anonymous buys to police each category. But
|
|
|
of course they took the thing [Silk Road] down before we got it properly
|
|
|
off the ground,” he lamented.</p>
|
|
|
<p name="49c8" id="49c8" class="graf--p">But perhaps it is best that the users, those who are actually consuming
|
|
|
the drugs, remain in charge of shaming dealers and warning each other.
|
|
|
“It’s our responsibility to police the market based on reviews and feedback,”
|
|
|
elmo666 wrote in an Evolution forum post. It seems that in the lawless
|
|
|
space of the deep web, where everything from child porn to weapons are
|
|
|
sold openly, users have cooperated in an organic display of self-regulation
|
|
|
to stamp out those particular batches of drugs that are more likely to
|
|
|
harm users.</p>
|
|
|
<p name="386d" id="386d" class="graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote">“That’s always been the case with the deep web,” PlutoPete told me. Indeed,
|
|
|
ever since Silk Road, a stable of the drug markets has been the review
|
|
|
system, where buyers can leave a rating and feedback for vendors, letting
|
|
|
others know about the reliability of the seller. But DoctorX’s lab, rigorously
|
|
|
testing the products with scientific instruments, takes it a step further.</p>
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
<div class="section-inner u-sizeFullWidth">
|
|
|
<figure name="890b" id="890b" class="graf--figure postField--fillWidthImage">
|
|
|
<div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked">
|
|
|
<img class="graf-image" data-image-id="1*WRlKt3q3mt7utmwxcbl3sQ.jpeg"
|
|
|
data-width="2100" data-height="1373" src="https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/2000/1*WRlKt3q3mt7utmwxcbl3sQ.jpeg">
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
<figcaption class="imageCaption">Photo by Joan Bardeletti</figcaption>
|
|
|
</figure>
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
<div class="section-inner layoutSingleColumn">
|
|
|
<p name="b109" id="b109" class="graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote">“In the white market, they have quality control. In the dark market, it
|
|
|
should be the same,” Cristina Gil Lladanosa says to me before I leave the
|
|
|
Barcelona lab.</p>
|
|
|
<p name="e3a4" id="e3a4" class="graf--p">A week after I visit the lab, the results of the MDMA arrive in my inbox:
|
|
|
it is 85 percent pure, with no indications of other active ingredients.
|
|
|
Whoever ordered that sample from the digital shelves of the deep web, and
|
|
|
had it shipped to their doorstep in Canada, got hold of some seriously
|
|
|
good, and relatively safe drugs. And now they know it.</p>
|
|
|
<figure name="31cf"
|
|
|
id="31cf" class="graf--figure">
|
|
|
<div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked">
|
|
|
<img class="graf-image" data-image-id="1*320_4I0lxbn5x3bx4XPI5Q.png" data-width="1200"
|
|
|
data-height="24" data-action="zoom" data-action-value="1*320_4I0lxbn5x3bx4XPI5Q.png"
|
|
|
src="https://d262ilb51hltx0.cloudfront.net/max/800/1*320_4I0lxbn5x3bx4XPI5Q.png">
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
</figure>
|
|
|
<p name="9b87" id="9b87" data-align="center" class="graf--p"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Top photo by Joan Bardeletti</em>
|
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
<p name="c30a" id="c30a" data-align="center" class="graf--p graf--last">Follow Backchannel: <a href="https://twitter.com/backchnnl" data-href="https://twitter.com/backchnnl"
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class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Twitter</em></a>
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<em
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class="markup--em markup--p-em">|</em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Backchannel/1488568504730671"
|
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data-href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Backchannel/1488568504730671"
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class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" rel="nofollow"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Facebook</em></a>
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</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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</div>
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