Brave New World: The Dark Web and the Age of Psychedelic Access
Whether you are a budding Alan Watts apprentice in the art of Zen Buddhism dissecting what it means to be alive or a Timothy Leary student sent into the future from a not so distant past set to question authority, find your inner potential and say a big fuck you to the government while meditating and tripping balls at the same time, the dark web has you covered when it comes to psychedelic drugs.
However, this has not always been the case. If you weren’t involved in the scenes of the swinging sixties with connections deep into the underground cultures that made the counter culture movements of the sixties possible or you didn’t have the networks into the naughty nineties and without our good friend the internet (which was most people due to the scarcity of the internet before the boom in the nineties) and dark net markets yet to make waves, you were bound to restricted possibilities. Now, thankfully for those who enjoy breaking through into infinite realms of consciousness and for those that like to throw themselves down the rabbit hole, those once exclusive and restricted possibilities are now morphing into something that symbolizes something entirely different; unrestricted VIP access to those realms of wonder, awe and inspiration that our fellow psychonauts and psychedelic connoisseurs love to flirt with, and all this is thanks to the dark web of-course.
Did you know? – Part One
According to research performed by TrendMicro in the midst of 2015 composed of what buyers and vendors bought and sold on dark net markets; LSD was joint fourth (for most popular product bought and most sold product on dark net markets) out of ten chosen categories which contained other drugs like MDMA and cannabis.
In another research project over 30% of dark net purchases were Bitcoin payments for LSD and at 13.5% belonged to 2-CB the psychedelic compound first synthesized by Sasha Shulgin, followed by magic mushrooms, ketamine and DMT which all take their place in an orderly fashion seemingly one after another gently sliding down the scale of prevalence and popularity.
A World before the Dark Web
As droughts in drug availability throughout the world have come and gone, fading in and out with dire consequences for the communities seeking out altered states (lack of drugs thanks to seizures and dealer/supplier/manufacturer arrests), psychedelics in particular have been at the pinnacle of this rocky road with the slight psychedelic recessions of the 1970s and 80s and the subsequent slump of availability for psychedelics in the nineties and after 2000. Over the past 50 years since LSD was made illegal, its demise has been imminent.
For quite a while and before dark net markets existed and Tor was not available publicly, people lay in fear and caution trading these exotic powerful substances without the extensive community networks and anonymity available today. The idea of being able to sell and buy psychedelics in such a way we can today was thought to be impossible and getting caught doing such things led to sure conviction and plenty of time behind bars.
LSD remains one of the most dangerous drugs to handle and distribute – the penalties can be extreme to say the least. And whilst those who were fortunate enough to know someone who was involved in scenes, cliques or communities where psychedelics were rampant and pure, others were bound to getting the leftovers of batches long since enjoyed by the first in the chain of command and for those poor souls; purity and quantity were a dime a dozen. The best your average Joe could do is ask their local weed dealer for assistance, hoping that their weed dealer knew someone who knew someone and so on and so forth.
After all, psychedelics like LSD aren’t drugs that your average dealer buys and sells because of the social stigma and fears of prosecution. Back in the day, you’d have needed to know people immediately linked up to psychedelic suppliers. These suppliers would usually form the basis of cliques and scenes bound by cultural similarities and musical tastes, they say if you want to find drugs in the Summer go to a festival and whoever says it isn’t far wrong as this is where all the acid could be found!
However, once the festival is over the troubles of finding those people become more prominent than ever and if your connect didn’t know anyone then you were sure to be out of luck. Better wait for the next Burning Man!
The US Government fucked up, big time
In the year 1966, after much praise and consideration for medical use, LSD became illegal in the US. Before then, credibly public figures like doctors could legally obtain investigative drugs with no higher authority to question them, which is how the psychedelic scene came about in the sixties. All this came to an end as the US government threw down the gauntlet with new drug amendments followed by the Grunsky Bill, claiming that LSD had no medical purpose. Their reasoning was its rampant misuse and unparalleled flooding into the public domain. This isn’t where the story ends, in fact the story twists and turns and it’s wise to note that this wasn’t just the primary reason behind the US government’s decision to ban LSD. In 1962, a new drug was released for investigative research in the US population by qualified highly trained physicians; thalidomide. LSD was still widely used in select communities like psychologists and psychiatrists, and during this time thalidomide was theorized to be a ‘wonder drug’ for those suffering with headaches, coughs and insomnia.
Adding to this list of potential remedies for common problems, thalidomide was given to women with morning sickness. What was to follow would become one of the biggest failings in pharmacological research the world has ever seen with over 10,000 incidents reported whereby pregnant women gave both to deformed babies. This situation prompted immediate restructuring of the US’s IND (investigational new drug) regulations and what followed would become the beginning of the end for thalidomide. Following suit was LSD after the FDA scrutinized its uses, and both shortly after became greatly restricted for use in medicine. This set the scene for the future of LSD production by way of clandestine manufacture and through tightly knit organizations which supplied the entirety of the US from the restriction of medical research and then onwards after the prohibition.
You’d think that new legislation and law prohibiting LSD use would throw a spanner into the works and create carnage in the communities that used LSD. Maybe so, but outside in the streets, LSD supply and demand was on the increase. San Francisco and California became the central hub where all LSD was manufactured and supplied from the 1960’s and '70’s, most of which was controlled by singular organizations who could import ergotamine tartrate in huge amounts from Mexican laboratories. Imports occurred frequently with such countries in Europe like the United Kingdom taking in large batches of LSD, considered at the time to be on another level compared to the best of what the British could offer in LSD production.
Did you know? – Part Two
As of 2014 in the US specifically, at least 16% of all adults aged 26 or over have tried hallucinogenic drugs and 15% of all people aged 12 or over. Of all the people surveyed, nearly 11% of all adults reported taking LSD. It’s fair to say that the criminalization of psychedelic drugs especially LSD hasn’t done much to dampen the spirits and intentions of the US general population and the same applies to other countries also.
Did you know? – Part Three
Can you imagine 40kg of LSD? Your average blotter contains on average 100-200ug (micrograms).
To put this into perspective, 40kg of LSD is 40 billion micrograms! This is the amount of LSD seized by the DEA in one of the biggest LSD manufacturing busts the world has ever seen, and for those who are in tune with the swirling vibrations of the psychedelic scene, you will know the guy behind the story. William Leonard Pickard is the most well-known underground LSD manufacturer in the world. Both William and his partner in crime gained huge notoriety in the psychedelic scene for their expert chemistry skills and their hugely successful distribution networks, from which they produced and distributed LSD and which cemented the availability of acid in America from the late '70s until their arrests reportedly caused the biggest decline of LSD availability worldwide. So if you were about in the '90s and early 2000’s when the biggest drought in acid was recorded – now you know why. He is now serving two life sentences and his partner a similar punishment.
The New Face of the Psychedelic Scene
Today the dark web is the biggest facilitator of a very old mission to put psychedelics on the world map; an international collaboration between those with the power to provide these delicate complex compounds, and those with the power to access these chemicals through their social networks. Although the mission of spreading mind-expanding and mind-altering substances that no other drugs can be compared to has remained the same since the revolution of the '60s; the tactics of the mission have changed.
Today, things are a little different. Here’s why; the internet.
The internet has performed miracles when it comes to globalization of our social lives. The world sits back and its citizens of all cultures, colors and ethnicities posts updates to Facebook and regularly sends out new tweets about a new pair of shoes, what’s new on TV, the new-born baby and how much of a jerk the boss really is. Although this seems trivial in some senses, this very concept of global relaying and publicity of communications has helped blow up all angles and access points to the internet, including dark net markets, and that includes psychedelics, too.
Online communities which provide 24/7 drug harm reduction advice and also a place for like minded people to share their experiences, concerns and trip reports (bluelight, drug-forums, erowid, DMT-nexus etc.), conventions, conferences and seminars which educate about the benefits both scientifically and spiritually about psychedelics in various formats and contexts (MAPS, Psychedemia, Horizons, etc.), festivals (Burning Man, Shankra, Psychedelic Circus, Samsara etc.), libraries and resources (erowid, blueright archives etc.) are all available at the touch of the button and all possible thanks to the various social media outlets commonly used by millions all over the world. And this is where dark net markets come in, and a little history, too, just for good measure.
The first notable marketplace to sell psychedelics was Silk Road 1. Following the beliefs and values of Ross Ulbricht, SR1 set out on a voyage to supply the world with products that would stand the test of time and control measures of modern day laws and regulations – and from that point onwards, a niche in the market appeared. Enter, psychedelics and enter, LSD Avengers.
LSD was known at this time during SR1’s upbringing to be anything but LSD. And here begins the story of LSD Avengers, a group spawned as a front-line defense created to curb the dangers of buying a product that was not what was advertised (usually sold as LSD but later found to be something else such as research chemicals like NBOMe) and to educate those with less access to harm reduction materials, testing facilities and general knowledge of the risks and realities around other chemicals being sold as LSD.
This new group who shrouded themselves in secrecy and mystique were the guardians of Silk Road, helping to protect customers from buying LSD that could harm them or cause them to freak out from adverse reactions to drugs other than the substance advertised, like research chemicals. Before the gallant LSD Avengers came out of the woodwork, the LSD market was saturated with research chemicals being sold as LSD or LSD that was completely fake, but this was all to change thanks to the surge in popularity and demand for the Avengers.
This new change prompted reform in the dark net market community whereby trust and patronage could be formed, and along the way new roots for improvement and quality could follow. What followed was a surge in the quality and quantity of genuine psychedelics. The LSD Avengers helped to mold this philosophy into the hearts, minds and souls of all vendors and customers of the present day. In their time testing LSD, they tested 60 vendors and these vendors were marked into specific categories based on the results the group would get back from scientific testing and trip reports. Some of the original cast marked as ‘Star’ vendors are still around on dark net markets today!
How the Dark Web is powering a new psychedelic movement
Today in 2016 you can buy psychedelics with the touch of a few mouse buttons and the tip tap of a few keyboard strokes. This pisses off the government because they have no control over who buys psychedelics and where they are headed too. These powerful tools have never been so more available than they are today, and research has shown that the quality and purity of psychedelics has grown over the past few years, this in part has to do with the surge in dark net market purchases. This new underground movement provides a treat for any avid fan of psychedelics and here is what powers the engines of this new underground psychedelic movement:
- Meritocracy. The faithful system of community driven feedback allows for vendors to be rewarded for their high quality genuine products.
- Anonymity. The risks are reduced when buying psychedelics like LSD off the dark web; today one can purchase with anonymity and additional security from the dark web.
- Choice. You can get pretty much anything you want or would ever need from dark net marketplaces and this includes some of the most obscure rarities amongst psychedelic drugs. Some that you may not be able to get on the street like DOB or DOM, for example.
- Stealth. Thanks to MBB’s and other stealth shipping methods, psychedelics can now be shared across different regions of the world with little to no chance of detection, making the new world of purchasing psychedelics truly a global movement and a global logistics success.
- Philosophy. You are always told that the past defines the present and when it comes to dark net markets, the past has helped to forge the present. Thanks to the desire for equality and trust laid down by the pioneers of our dark net landscape, today drugs especially psychedelics are purer and more available than ever before and it’s this mind-set created by exceptional members of the dark net community that today continuously encourages new and old vendors to supply psychedelics that are high grade and highly respected.
- Culture Dissolution. Psychedelics were once drugs you could acquire if you were part of particular scenes, something that came with exclusivity and secrecy. Today that boundary has well and truly been crossed, allowing different cultural and social backgrounds to fall on through the rabbit hole.
The Conclusion
The winds of change of the last 10 years have swept the psychedelic scene off its feet from the old foundations of a bygone era and blown us all into the abyss where, after subtle changes and historic events that have taken place, psychedelics have been more accessible than ever before. We are now molding into place a more dynamic open space in modern society ready for the triumph of a new movement; the modern psychedelic movement. It might not follow a particular branding or preach a particular narrative, unlike those come and gone in the past, but what this new movement has incorporated is the secrecy and anonymity required to enable all those with a taste for the divine, the great, the God, and for all spiritual healing and ego loss and transcendence of time and space to gather in synchronicity and agreement where one can purchase and can provide the necessary tools required for breaking open the mind in an environment that caters for all the needs of a modern society entrenched in surveillance, corruption, power and greed.
Although the risks are plenty when considering the history of dangerous chemicals being sold as LSD and the chemistry procedures entrusted on people we don’t know and will never meet hoping that our products arrive exactly as we expect we can also reap the benefits and advantages of having these drugs available to us in a manner that hasn’t ever been available until now.
Buying Psychedelics off the Dark Net
Anyone who is considering buying psychedelics from the dark net or those already buying them from their chosen marketplace should always remember that there are ALWAYS risks involved. The biggest risk involved is knowing what the active ingredients of the psychedelic you have purchased are, especially if you are intending to buy or have already bought LSD because drugs are often sold as LSD when they are in fact another something else, such as research chemicals. Research chemicals are not drugs which have much if any scientific research behind them and no medicinal benefits in humans (as of yet anyway).
It’s worth noting that many drugs now in mainstream society started out as research chemicals and now have profound uses in medicine and therapeutic settings, but until those committed research projects have produced results the public can rely on, research chemicals are potentially dangerous drugs which can seriously injure if not kill you and your friends. This isn’t a plot to scare you; far from it. Instead, this is a message intended to inform you and allow you to make a more reliable and safer decision as to what drugs you buy and consume considering the risks involved (and yes, there are risks).
Some important points to consider:
- Be aware of research chemicals being sold as LSD – This is one of the BIGGEST concerns surrounded buying psychedelics off the dark web. And an issue that seems to never end so the best advice would be to test ALL your products! Buy DIY home drug testing kits.
- Always test your psychedelics – Energy Control provide international coverage for testing psychedelics and can tell you what you have bought and the quality.
- Always evaluate your chosen vendor properly and comprehensively before purchasing – Do your research! Read reviews, check out their Grams page if they have one, ask around.
- Be safe – Always plan your trip, set and setting, trip sitter, dosage and if in doubt, ASK. Drug resources like Erowid.org, Tripsit.me and bluelight.orgwill give you advice if you need it.
- You risk getting caught – Every time you buy drugs off the dark net market, you risk the package being intercepted or risk being setup in a sting operation to garner evidence and a sure conviction. Psychedelics are in many countries considered the worst drugs to be using, selling and buying. Weigh up the risks before doing anything!
Some resources for you to look at:
- Erowid Vault – Research Chemicals FAQs
- Erowid Vault – Testing LSD
- Dancesafe.org – LSD/Mushrooms/5-MEOxx/DMT/4-ACO-DMT/25i-NBOMe Ehrlich Drug Testing Kit
- Dancesafe.org – 2CB/2CI/DXM Marquis Drug Testing Kit
- Dancesafe.org – Ketamine Mandelin Drug Testing Kit
- Darknet Avengers – Testing Darknet markets products and vendors
