1,444
Views
1
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Risk taking and risk management

Responsible use to responsible harm: illicit drug use and peer harm reduction in a darknet cryptomarket

ORCID Icon
Pages 336-350 | Received 06 Jul 2016, Accepted 06 Dec 2017, Published online: 12 Dec 2017
 

Abstract

Sale of illicit drugs through online ‘cryptomarkets’ is a notable innovation in the illicit drug market. Cryptomarkets present new ways of configuring risk and harm in relation to drug use. I examine the kinds of knowledge and discourses users employed to do this. I argue that the lay/expert divide that creates a hierarchy of knowledge around drug use and harms is increasingly undermined by the creation of knowledge communities by drug users who make drug use work effectively for them. I draw on the discussion forum of a now defunct English language focused cryptomarket, anonymised as ‘Merkat’, collected between 2015 and 2016. Typically, vendors in the major cryptomarkets are based in the USA, UK, China, the Netherlands and Australia. Buyers were mainly located in the USA, UK, Australia and Western Europe. I scraped the market forum threads and coded on emergent themes. I found that risk worked along four axes, cultural normalisation/pathologisation, chemical potency, legal/policy and market, each of which required a set of practices and orientations to manage successfully. Users indicated that they had adapted many harm reduction practices, while also promoting a ‘responsible harm’ orientation where they sought to own and take charge of harm. The support infrastructure drew on knowledge from drug users, vendors and interested professionals. I conclude that cryptomarkets can provide a community infrastructure that supports the exchange of drugs and configures them as risky but manageable objects.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Dr. Kim Masson her advice on the paper and title.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 65.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 238.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.