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Will growth in cryptomarket drug buying increase the harms of illicit drugs?

Overview of attention for article published in Addiction, August 2017
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (96th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (82nd percentile)

Mentioned by

news
5 news outlets
twitter
57 X users
facebook
2 Facebook pages
googleplus
1 Google+ user

Citations

dimensions_citation
66 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
137 Mendeley
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Title
Will growth in cryptomarket drug buying increase the harms of illicit drugs?
Published in
Addiction, August 2017
DOI 10.1111/add.13899
Pubmed ID
Authors

Judith Aldridge, Alex Stevens, Monica J. Barratt

Abstract

Cryptomarkets-on-line, anonymous market-places for illicit goods and services that specialize mainly in drugs-account for a small but rapidly growing share of the illicit drug market in many countries. Policy responses so far are based generally on the assumption that their rise will only increase drug harms. In this contribution for debate, we question this assumption. We provide a narrative review of the emerging literature connected to drug cryptomarkets. We use MacCoun & Reuter's formula to understand the effect of population-level increases in use on total harm as depending on the level of harm associated with each unit of use. We then consider the potential for cryptomarkets to increase or decrease the harms and benefits related to each unit of drug use, with specific attention to the quality of drugs sold and the non-drug-related harms and benefits for customers. It is likely that cryptomarkets will increase both the amount and the range of substances that are sold. However, we argue that the effects on harms will depend upon whether cryptomarkets also increase the quality and safety of products that are sold, provide harm-reducing information to consumers and reduce transactional conflict involved in drug purchasing. There is an emerging and rapidly growing evidence base connected to the macro and micro harms and benefits of cryptomarkets for drug users. Future researchers should use appropriately matched comparative designs to establish more firmly the differential harms and benefits of sourcing drugs both on- and off-line. While it is unlikely that the on-line drug trade can be eradicated completely, cryptomarkets will respond to regulation and enforcement in ways that have complex, and sometimes unanticipated, effects on both harms and benefits.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 57 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 137 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 137 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 25 18%
Researcher 24 18%
Student > Bachelor 11 8%
Student > Ph. D. Student 10 7%
Student > Doctoral Student 6 4%
Other 18 13%
Unknown 43 31%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Social Sciences 37 27%
Computer Science 11 8%
Psychology 9 7%
Economics, Econometrics and Finance 7 5%
Business, Management and Accounting 6 4%
Other 21 15%
Unknown 46 34%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 76. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 25 January 2021.
All research outputs
#552,763
of 25,287,709 outputs
Outputs from Addiction
#445
of 5,767 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#11,678
of 323,394 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Addiction
#17
of 94 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,287,709 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 97th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 5,767 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 27.4. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 92% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 323,394 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 96% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 94 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 82% of its contemporaries.