> Legalising drug use would only remove one class of product from these marketplaces. They're still going to need to be shut down.
Operators who allow these kinds of products on their markets are assholes. 99% of the visitors come for the drugs and these markets are exposing them to all kinds of bullshit crap, like guns, stolen credit card numbers or child porn.
I think there would be a lot less 'public' support for markets that sell this crap if drugs were legalised.
If legalisation is too complicated politically, then they should at least allow one or several "honest", drugs-only markets to exist peacefully.
This way the 'asshole' markets would loose all their traffic - both vendors and clients - making them unprofitable.
Re:A Primer on DarkNet Marketplaces
by Galaxeblaffer on Tuesday November 15, 2016 @07:14AM
(#12957378)
Exactly this ! It's really the same out in the real society, i think many gangs and irresponsible pushers etc. would not be tolerated where it not for the drugs. If drug use is as widespread as it seems, many people would have "good"/selfish reasons to hold their hand over people as these people are their only source for mind altering substances. IMO it will be much easier and acceptable to weed out the bad apples once we get our shit together and legalize it all.. At least it will be much harder for criminals to thrive if you remove their financial foundation.
When you look purely at the drug section, yeah, that makes sense. Keep in mind though that the market also facilitates less morally ambiguous things that involve (from TFA):
- child sexual exploitation
- chemical, biological, and radiological materials and knowledge
- stolen goods
- counterfeit goods
Legalising drug use would only remove one class of product from these marketplaces. They're still going to need to be shut down.