Russia's Dead Drop Drug Revolution
globalinitiative.net
globalinitiative.net
None of this is new, or unique to Russia.
does seem very relevant to expose Russia's outsized influence.
Actual news are optional, although in this case both a rise of high tech methods in retail drug trading over time and widespread usage in Russia seem likely.
Russia has extreme levels of alcoholism and drug abuse. A lot of it is quite unique to Russia, country that brought you Krokodil and things messed up beyond your wildest imagination.
People in the west really have no slightest clue.
- the West has all of these much worse
- Russia is upstanding and moral
- if these exist in Russia, it’s because of western influence
Which conveniently removes the responsibility from Russian authorities and emboldens western jackasses who see Russia as some kind of beacon for… something.
Maybe Russia can blame the West for the dark net.
Russia _had_ extreme levels of alcoholism in the 1990s and in the beginning of 2000s. Since then, their anti-alcohol campaign was very effective. Instead of outright banning alcohol (which was tried in the 1980s and led to a bootlegging boom), they taxed the hell out of strong liquors, prohibited advertising them, prohibited nighttime sale of alcoholic drinks including beer, prohibited everything except beer on sports events, and executed other measures to make alcoholic beverages _uncomfortable_ to obtain.
As a result, alcohol consumption per capita decreased nearly twofold. Now average Russian drinks less than average American [1].
1. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/alcohol-consump...
Claiming a twofold decrease since the beginning of the 2000's is not supported by the WHO's numbers. Peak consumption in Russia looks to be in 2006, there's been a 28% decrease in consumption since 2006.
Women in Russia do consume less than women in the USA in 2020, 4.2L vs 4.4L but Russian men still out drink their American counterparts at 18.1L vs 15.5L.
The WHO numbers of litres of alcohol consumed per-captia, three year average:
Russia
2020 M&F 10.5 [ 7.2 - 13.9] M 18.1 [12.5 - 24.1] F 4.2 [2.9 - 5.6]
2006 M&F 14.6 [10.9 - 18.5] M 25.0 [18.5 - 31.5] F 6.0 [4.4 - 7.6]
2000 M&F 13.9 [10.1 - 17.7] M 23.7 [17.2 - 30.2] F 5.6 [4.0 - 7.2]
2020 M&F 9.9 [ 7.3 - 12.8] M 15.5 [11.4 - 19.9] F 4.4 [3.2 - 5.8]
2006 M&F 9.4 [ 6.6 - 12.3] M 14.8 [10.4 - 19.3] F 4.2 [3.0 - 5.6]
2000 M&F 9.1 [ 6.4 - 11.7] M 14.3 [10.2 - 18.6] F 4.0 [2.8 - 5.3]
A few things that really stood out from the study:
- This is now the primary way drugs are bought and sold in Russia. Crypto and darknet markets have always been a bit niche in the West, but it's really taken off here. No definitive answer as to why, but high-risk, low-trust, poor-post is a decent hypothesis.
- The markets are massive business, which do publicity stunts (e.g., dumping a bus with their logo in the middle of central Moscow)[1] and digital marketing, check out "moriati" on YouTube.[1]
- There are two basic jobs in the lower ranks: kladmen and cooks. Both often involve taking out debt and getting the shit kicked out of you when you don't pay (not so different here, I guess). This is particularly interesting, because darknet markets had been previously seen as safer means of exchange as in-person contact is reduced.
- Different categories of drugs are thriving in the context of broken supply chains stemming from conflict between Russia and the West. Forget krokodil, this is an Alpha PVP and Mephodrone scene, as they've got precursors that are readily available in Russia.
Loads in this report. I read a lot of shit, lazy work on Russia and this is the good stuff. Well worth a read.
[0] https://www.vice.com/en/article/russia-darknet-market-wars/
I don't speak Russian, but the photos look interesting. Does anyone have an English translation?
In fact, kladmen are disposable, are easy targets for cops, and get huge sentences.
https://www.economist.com/international/2024/11/26/the-world...
>Russian darknet markets control 93% of the global share, generating approximately $1.5 billion in revenue in 2023 alone
I assumed he was looking for other addicts stashes e.g. maybe they stash what they're holding when they beg to avoid losing it to police searches? Maybe it was dead drops but it seemed like a street thing rather than a darknet thing but what do I know...
I don't know if he was successful or just nuts but given I've found full baggies just laying on the pavement, maybe it's not so hard.
Someone must have seen me because, surprisingly, it wasn't there when I came back later.
I quickly realized that nobody on the street gives a shit if you just walk around with an electric impact driver screwing things to telephone poles. Maybe things where you are are different, but the police around here really aren't interested in interacting with anything that dispatch didn't tell them to interact with.