Red Pill, Blue Pill or No Pill?

The most successful Australian vendor on Silk Road has conned their customers out of tens of thousands of dollars Aussie vendor EnterTheMatrix had a simple and effective business model.  Purchase Australia’s most popular party drugs from overseas vendors on Silk Road, add a 400% markup and resell them to Aussie Silk Road customers.  Although there were […]

Shadh1 – penalised for not propping up Aussie organised crime?

If small-time drug dealer shadh1 had purchased his drugs from Australians, his jail term would be less than half what he received. As a drug dealer, shadh1 was really really bad at his job.  One of the key performance indicators is an ability to stay off the radar of law enforcement authorities, who are obliged […]

Agony over Ecstasy

I haven’t yet written a background blog to my latest Fairfax Feature, Dancing With Molly.  If you happen to have come to my page as a result of that article, please have a quick look at a couple of relevant earlier posts: Crap analysis shows wee problem with tough ecstasy laws – what happens when […]

Is Silk Road’s owner jumping ship?

Is Silk Road’s owner – The Dread Pirate Roberts – sailing off into the sunset with wads of cash? Has he sold Silk Road as a going concern and included the goodwill of his name and reputation in the price?

Why proposed internet security measures will do more harm than good

Last month I published a piece in The Age about the ‘dark web’ – sites that can only be accessed through anonymity software. What became lost beneath graphics of demons emerging from computers was a line I wrote in response to proposed legislative changes that could lead to the web history of any device connected […]

Crap analysis shows wee problem with tough ecstasy laws

Yesterday the Australian Institute of Criminology released a report that independently verified what they had already been told by users themselves:  when ecstasy is not available, recreational drug users turn to crystal meth. The verification came from an analysis of sewerage water from a municipality in Queensland.  “Estimates were made of the average daily dose […]

Why politicians and law enforcement should embrace Silk Road

Online drugs marketplaces are far better than the current alternative. Despite what certain newspapers and ‘current affairs’ shows would have you believe, the vast majority of drug users – even chronic drugs users – are happy, non-violent people who hold down regular jobs.  They don’t take drugs because there’s something lacking in their lives.  They […]