The global rise of junkie mail

[Chip (OP)]

source: http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/the-global-rise-of-junkie-mail/news-story/c588427436a1600845ca2588db538eb1

The global rise of junkie mail


Drugs are increasingly being delivered by post.

WHEN Peter* was using drugs regularly he wasn’t meeting with dealers in backstreets, his illicit substances were generally delivered via Australia Post.

The 25-year-old said getting drugs off the internet, even heroin, seemed far safer.

“Initially I only got weed and I went to a dealer for that,” he said. “I also used to get a bit of ecstasy, and it was pretty easy to come by ... but you typically have to deal with some pretty sketchy people.

“That was the most dangerous part ... I was always a bit skittish about buying on the street. Buying stuff on the internet, as a rookie, seemed far safer. There were reviews on the site (about the drugs)
.
“I wouldn’t say it was safer but it felt better anyway.”

At the height of his drug habit, Peter was using six days a week, mostly psychedelics but also heroin, which his friend ordered for him online.

Judging from the latest statistics published in the Global Drug Survey 2016, Peter is one of a rising number of people choosing to buy drugs on the “dark net” and has them delivered to their door.

Globally 9.3 per cent of those surveyed said they had bought drugs off the dark net at some stage. Those who had done so in the past year rose from 4.5 per cent to 6.7 per cent.

Peter said some drugs like salvia, a psychoactive plant that can produce visions, was only available from overseas.

He has also tried ayahuasca, an hallucinogen from Peru that is brewed into a tea.

“It is a pretty terrifying experience and very nauseating,” he said.

Despite not enjoying the experience, he was still surprised to hear reports it was implicated in Phil Walsh’s death. He said a tourist trade had sprung up around ayahuasca, as it was supposed to provide an enlightening experience and was often used in religious ceremonies.

“It’s supposed to give access to other realms or dimensions,” he said “You can really think you are seeing something because it seems real ... but it just messes with your brain.”

Apart from the general risks of getting an occasional bad trip, Peter didn’t have any health problems or other bad experiences from ordering online.

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[Michael]

There's a whole generation popping up of kids (late teens to early 30s) who are entirely dependent on these various darknet sites to use. It's insane. They have absolutely no contact with their local drug culture. A good portion of them I'd spoken with had never even tried marijuana as a young teenager or whatever. They just got stuck into drugs purely through the internet. For a lot of people I know, they use it as a once in a while thing. Like once in a blue moon a few of the boys put in a lot and they'll get a large order of a drug that's hard to get locally or is just lower quality locally. I.e my brother and his mates all pitched in and got a decent lump of mdma. They used it themselves and sold a little locally. They made a bit of pocket money and had a good time and that was it. There wasn't any question of doing it again and again. Just a little blowout.

But for some their drug using is entirely a solitary experience. Heroin is pretty much like that for everyone but at least there's the contact you maintain with fellow users and dealers and the scene. Depending on where you live it might be less than others. Especially if you're dealers are very anonymous. But a lot of places you know everything about everyone in your scene. It's like that here at least. So the thought of these guys who have no experience in scoring or using in real life. No idea of how to faus pas or how to conduct yourself around other users or things to look out for. Well it's almost worrying. Because inevitably these people will have to get out of the darknet mail cycle. You can't rely on that shit to support a habit. Which is something inevitable if you use long enough.

I've met and befriended a guy who was pretty much like this. He primarily ordered drugs online and used them alone and would post on drug forums. That was his community. His equivalent of going over to so and so's, buying some gear, catching up on who's in jail or who ripped off who was going on a message board and posting about his using with others who varied from identical to normal users who post online.

To his credit he adapted better than one might exoect to scoring from real dealers and such, face to face. But he still seemed to have missed out on something crucial in his development for it. Like basic codes of conduct, he just had no idea about. Just weird things like ganking someone elses dealer or trying to steal an intro. Or he might show up at a house that has a lab with a naive non using friend in tow. Totally gormless.