RESEARCH
THE SOCIOLOGY OF ONLINE CRIMINAL DRUG MARKETS It’s a risky business buying illegal drugs, and more people are turning to the dark web to do so. Accessible only through encrypted internet networks that use anonymous browsers such as Tor, online “darknet” markets offer a relatively safer — and more convenient — option for procuring illicit substances for both vendors and buyers. Despite several large darknet markets being shut down by law enforcement — including Silk Road (coined the “eBay of drugs”) in 2013 — these drug markets are continuing to grow. “More and more people are aware of the ease of accessing them, and we are seeing the number of users rise quite dramatically,” said Dana Haynie, professor of sociology and director of Ohio State's Criminal Justice Research Center (CJRC). Haynie and Scott Duxbury, PhD candidate in sociology, have been observing one of the largest darknet drug markets operating today, with a focus on the social network dynamics that sustain it. Their research was selected to represent the American Sociological Association (ASA) at the Coalition for National Science Funding’s annual exhibition May 9 on Capitol Hill. Haynie and Duxbury met with the offices of Ohio Sens. Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman, as well as Reps. Joyce Beatty and Steve Stivers. In addition, the office of Ohio Congressman Bill Johnson shared Duxbury and Haynie’s research with the Federal Drug Administration, which sent it to the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “Recognizing that the senators and legislators are very concerned about the opioid epidemic in Ohio, they were all very interested in our project and excited about what we are doing,” Haynie said.
Seven years ago, the first market was bringing in $200,000 in annual revenue. Today, the biggest markets are bringing in about 180 million in gross revenue.
Scott Duxbury and Dana Haynie on Capitol Hill, May 9, 2018.
Most drugs bought via darknet markets are recreational substances such as marijuana, LSD and cocaine, but there is “a significant growing market for heroin and other types of opioids,” Duxbury said, adding that heroin and heroin substances including fentanyl are now more popular than prescription opioids on the dark web. Pursuing arrests through the darknet is costly due to dealers’ carefully concealed identities and difficulties catching people over large geographic areas. But Haynie and Duxbury’s research sheds light on another possible avenue of disruption — trust. Trust between buyers and vendors is especially important on darknet drug markets, where buyers risk being scammed or sold inferior or contaminated products, Haynie said. Vendors establish trust through customer and
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