Cannabis on the Dark Web: Exploring Products and Prices

Cannabis products are big business on the dark web, with lots of people buying and selling them. This study checked out what kinds of cannabis products are sold online and how much they cost. Researchers looked at four main dark web markets: Archetyp, Incognito, Royal, and Wethenorth, finding over 2, 900 posts selling cannabis products. Most of these were cannabis-derived products, followed by illicit and prescription drugs, and then psychedelics. One market, Archetyp, showed that cannabis concentrates cost more per milligram when shipped from countries where cannabis is completely banned. The dark web is like a wild online marketplace where cannabis products fly around at different prices.The study was done in three steps. First, they searched for cannabis and tobacco keywords on these markets. Next, they looked at how the products were described when they were up for sale. Lastly, they checked out the prices based on what type of product it was, where it was shipped from, and if the country had strict cannabis laws. This study helps us understand how the dark web works as an unregulated space for buying and selling cannabis products.