Online drug markets and their evolving dynamics

Session Submission Type: Pre-arranged Panel

Abstract

Background. Technological advances and changing consumer behaviors have expanded both legal and illicit online pharmaceutical markets. On cryptomarkets, ADHD medications are often sold without prescriptions or regulatory oversight. While research has explored illicit drug market dynamics, little is known about how these medications are marketed and framed.
Method. This study investigates how ADHD medications are marketed by analyzing 1,656 product listings from 473 vendors. Using trigram analysis and manual categorization, recurring linguistic patterns were grouped into themes. Latent class analysis (LCA) then identified three distinct advertising profiles.
Results. Advertisements frequently referenced medical use for ADHD treatment (10.7%), sleep disorders (10.0%), and performance enhancement (9.4%), while references to safety were notably rare (1.5%). LCA revealed three advertising profiles: a minimalist group with limited thematic content (84%), a performance-oriented group mixing medical and non-medical rhetoric (4.5%), and a therapeutic group emphasizing sleep and alternative treatments (11.8%). Notably, safety-related language was rare, appearing in only 1.5% of listings overall and absent in the performance and therapeutic classes.
Conclusion. As a result, the non-medical use of ADHD medications - such as methylphenidate and amphetamine-based stimulants - extends beyond their approved therapeutic indications, particularly for concentration and cognitive performance. This trend contributes to the erosion of clear boundaries between licit pharmaceutical use and illicit market practices, reinforcing patterns of functional, goal-oriented drug consumption over recreational use.

Subtopic

• Topic 2: Types of Offending / Drugs and Crime (European Drug Policies WG)

Chair

• Meropi Tzanetakis, Vienna University of Economics and Business

Individual Presentations

• Split the herd. Bot-based situational intervention pilot in illicit nicotine online markets - Kristoffer Aagesen, University of Copenhagen; Jakob Demant, University of Copenhagen

• Social media drug markets – polish drug user’s experiences - Adam Stasiak, Polish Academy of Sciences

• Trafficking ADHD Medication on the Darknet Market - Filippo Andrei, University of Trento; Alberto Aziani, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca; Anita Lavorgna, University of Bologna

• Cryptomarkets – A phenomenon of the Global North? - Meropi Tzanetakis, Vienna University of Economics and Business; Nigel South, University of Essex; Julia Buxton, Liverpool John Moores University; Tobias Boos, University of Vienna; Matias Dewey, University of St. Gallen