The internet plays a crucial role in the increase of drug selling in Europe, “offering more varied options” to buyers while also preserving their anonymity, according to the European observatory for drugs and addiction substances (EMCDDA) in a report on Thursday. “Almost all kinds of drugs can be bought online and delivered by post without any physical meeting taking place between buyer and seller”, comments Dimitris Avramopoulos, European commissary in charge of Interior Affairs.
Although over 80 million people or about a quarter of the adult population of the European Union have consumed illegal drugs, the transactions over the internet remains quite limited, indicated EMCDDA. According to a study carried in 2015 involving 100 000 world wide internet users, 10% admitted that they had bought drugs over the internet.
"Most of the drug dealing still takes place in the physical world, but the virtual market pushes the limits of drug supply further", says Alexis Goosdeel, director of EMCDDA.
In Europe there are around 650 internet sites that sell new psychoactive substances (NPS) which are euphoriants often presented as substitutes for existing illegal drugs. However these substances are often deadly, warns the report.
(Source: Belga)
