Researchers Ponder Whether Online Drug Markets Like Silk Road Reduce Violence

Though the online illicit black
market Silk Road developed a reputation for being an “Ebay for
Drugs” (before being shut down by the feds), two professors have
taken a closer look and found otherwise. In actuality, it appears
as though a significant amount of drug sales could best be
classified as “business-to-business”—drug manufacturers selling to
drug dealers.

Therefore University of Lausanne criminologist David Decary-Hetu
and University of Manchester law professor Judith Aldridge want us
to consider the idea that the growing interest in online illegal
drug vending (Silk Road saw an increase of 600 percent in drug
sales over the course of a single year) could actually reduce
violence in the illegal drug market. Wired took note of the
study:

“This new breed of drug dealer is… likely to be relatively free
from the violence typically associated with traditional drug
markets,” reads the paper, the title of which calls Silk Road “a
paradigm-shifting criminal innovation.” “Whereas violence [in the
traditional drug trade] was commonly used to gain market share,
protect turfs and resolve conflicts, the virtual location and
anonymity that the cryptomarket provides reduces or eliminates the
need – or even the ability – to resort to violence.

“In the drugs cryptomarket era,” the paper adds, “having good
customer service and writing skills…may be more important than
muscles and face-to-face connections.”

They don’t have any numbers to back up their ideas as factual,
and Silk Road’s sales, despite their growth, were a drop in the
bucket of all drug sales. But the professors’ point is that if the
online drug market expands at the rate it did during Silk Road’s
existence, certain market pressures would be relieved.

The report can be downloaded here.
Color me a bit skeptical. A certain amount of the drug violence
worldwide is based on control of space to grow and manufacture
drugs, and the market going virtual won’t change the situation (but
then, how much of that violence is between drug cartels and
governments?). The inability for those who are engaged in the drug
trade to turn to the police and courts when they’re victimized
remains a problem. People may not get mugged or killed in
drug-related violence on the street level as much, but we could see
more cybercrime among participants. The drug market will still be a
competitive market, and because the government insists on
prosecution, participants still lack protection. A virtual
marketplace may introduce a significant amount of safety, but not
nearly as much as decriminalization.