PMID- 27936283
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20180226
LR  - 20191210
IS  - 1360-0443 (Electronic)
IS  - 0965-2140 (Linking)
VI  - 112
IP  - 4
DP  - 2017 Apr
TI  - Purity, adulteration and price of drugs bought on-line versus off-line in the 
      Netherlands.
PG  - 640-648
LID - 10.1111/add.13720 [doi]
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: On-line drug markets flourish and consumers have high 
      expectations of on-line quality and drug value. The aim of this study was to (i) 
      describe on-line drug purchases and (ii) compare on-line with off-line purchased 
      drugs regarding purity, adulteration and price. DESIGN: Comparison of laboratory 
      analyses of 32 663 drug consumer samples (stimulants and hallucinogens) purchased 
      between January 2013 and January 2016, 928 of which were bought on-line. SETTING: 
      The Netherlands. MEASUREMENTS: Primary outcome measures were (i) the percentage 
      of samples purchased on-line and (ii) the chemical purity of powders (or dosage 
      per tablet); adulteration; and the price per gram, blotter or tablet of drugs 
      bought on-line compared with drugs bought off-line. FINDINGS: The proportion of 
      drug samples purchased on-line increased from 1.4% in 2013 to 4.1% in 2015. The 
      frequency varied widely, from a maximum of 6% for controlled, traditional 
      substances [ecstasy tablets, 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA) powder, 
      amphetamine powder, cocaine powder, 4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine (2C-B) 
      and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)] to more than a third for new psychoactive 
      substances (NPS) [4-fluoroamphetamine (4-FA), 5/6-(2-aminopropyl)benzofuran 
      (5/6-APB) and methoxetamine (MXE)]. There were no large differences in drug 
      purity, yet small but statistically significant differences were found for 4-FA 
      (on-line 59% versus off-line 52% purity for 4-FA on average, P = 0.001), MDMA 
      powders (45 versus 61% purity for MDMA, P = 0.02), 2C-B tablets (21 versus 10 mg 
      2C-B/tablet dosage, P = 0.49) and ecstasy tablets (131 versus 121 mg MDMA/tablet 
      dosage, P = 0.05). The proportion of adulterated samples purchased on-line and 
      off-line did not differ, except for 4-FA powder, being less adulterated on-line 
      (chi(2)  = 8.3; P < 0.02). Drug prices were mainly higher on-line, ranging for 
      various drugs from 10 to 23% higher than that of drugs purchased off-line (six of 
      10 substances: P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Dutch drug users increasingly purchase 
      drugs on-line: new psychoactive substances in particular. Purity and adulteration 
      do not vary considerably between drugs purchased on-line and off-line for most 
      substances, while on-line prices are mostly higher than off-line prices.
CI  - (c) 2016 Society for the Study of Addiction.
FAU - van der Gouwe, Daan
AU  - van der Gouwe D
AD  - Trimbos Institute, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, Utrecht, 
      the Netherlands.
FAU - Brunt, Tibor M
AU  - Brunt TM
AD  - Trimbos Institute, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, Utrecht, 
      the Netherlands.
FAU - van Laar, Margriet
AU  - van Laar M
AD  - Trimbos Institute, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, Utrecht, 
      the Netherlands.
FAU - van der Pol, Peggy
AU  - van der Pol P
AD  - Trimbos Institute, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, Utrecht, 
      the Netherlands.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20170202
PL  - England
TA  - Addiction
JT  - Addiction (Abingdon, England)
JID - 9304118
RN  - 0 (Amphetamines)
RN  - 0 (Benzofurans)
RN  - 0 (Central Nervous System Stimulants)
RN  - 0 (Cyclohexanones)
RN  - 0 (Cyclohexylamines)
RN  - 0 (Dimethoxyphenylethylamine)
RN  - 0 (Hallucinogens)
RN  - 0 (Illicit Drugs)
RN  - 0 (Propylamines)
RN  - 2M3825704H (5-(2-aminopropyl)benzofuran)
RN  - 8NA5SWF92O (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide)
RN  - CK833KGX7E (Amphetamine)
RN  - I5Y540LHVR (Cocaine)
RN  - KE1SEN21RM (N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine)
RN  - S5744XYR1Z (4-fluoroamphetamine)
RN  - V77772N32H (2-(4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)ethylamine)
RN  - ZO5ZCE6E12 (2-(3-methoxyphenyl)-2-(ethylamino)cyclohexanone)
SB  - IM
CIN - Addiction. 2017 Apr;112(4):649-650. PMID: 28261980
EIN - Addiction. 2017 Sep;112(9):1690. PMID: 28778124
MH  - Amphetamine/chemistry/economics
MH  - Amphetamines/chemistry/economics
MH  - Benzofurans/chemistry/economics
MH  - Central Nervous System Stimulants/*chemistry/economics
MH  - Cocaine/chemistry/economics
MH  - Cyclohexanones/chemistry/economics
MH  - Cyclohexylamines/chemistry/economics
MH  - Dimethoxyphenylethylamine/analogs & derivatives/chemistry/economics
MH  - *Drug Contamination
MH  - *Drug Costs
MH  - Drug Trafficking
MH  - Hallucinogens/*chemistry/economics
MH  - Humans
MH  - Illicit Drugs/*chemistry/economics
MH  - *Internet
MH  - Lysergic Acid Diethylamide/chemistry/economics
MH  - N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine/chemistry/economics
MH  - Netherlands
MH  - Propylamines/chemistry/economics
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Adulteration
OT  - cryptomarkets
OT  - darknet
OT  - dosage
OT  - drug markets
OT  - price
OT  - purity
OT  - quality
OT  - webshops
EDAT- 2016/12/10 06:00
MHDA- 2018/02/27 06:00
CRDT- 2016/12/10 06:00
PHST- 2016/04/26 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2016/07/25 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2016/12/08 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2016/12/10 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2018/02/27 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2016/12/10 06:00 [entrez]
AID - 10.1111/add.13720 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Addiction. 2017 Apr;112(4):640-648. doi: 10.1111/add.13720. Epub 2017 Feb 2.