T4P has been the topic of an academic journal article. : Test4Pay | Torhoo darknet markets

The team at Test4Pay has been in communication with one of Australia's most prominent academics in the fields of drug policy and harm reduction; Dr Monica Baratt. Dr Baratt approached the team with request of using the data collected, from you the community, to publish a report. The data has had usernames removed to ensure your anonymity and a clear web link to the report can be found below, as well as a text copy of the abstract. I am happy to upload the PDF to a .onion service if requested.

Who is Dr Monica Barratt ?

Dr Monica Barratt is a social scientist at the Drug Policy Modelling Program, part of Australia's National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at the University of New South Wales. Her work is funded via the National Health and Medical Research Council (Early Career Fellowship and Project Grant schemes).

Over the last 15 years, Monica's research has examined the social and public health implications of digital technologies for people who use illicit and emerging psychoactive drugs. Research topics emerging from this interest include online drug markets or cryptomarkets, and policy responses to novel psychoactive substance evolution, including live mapping of drug misrepresentations through community-based drug checking or testing services. She specialises in engaging hard-to-reach networks and groups in digital spaces in conversations about research and policy, to inform policy change.

Monica is also an Adjunct Fellow at the National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University, and a Visiting Fellow at the Burnet Institute. She serves as Associate/Deputy Editor for the journals International Journal of Drug Policy and Drug and Alcohol Review, Australian Research Lead on Global Drug Survey, and Director of Research at the international drug harm-reduction community Bluelight.org.

Here is a link to the report : https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/n7mze/

And here is the abstract (overview) of the article :

Drug adulteration and substitution within Australian cryptomarkets: An analysis of Test4Pay.

AUTHORS
Monica Barratt, Matthew Ball, Gabriel T.W. Wong, Angus Quinton.

ABSTRACT
Prohibited drugs in unregulated markets are often adulterated, resulting in increased risks for consumers. This study investigated levels of drug adulteration and substitution in drugs purchased by Australians from cryptomarkets.

Methods.
Data were collected from the Dread subforum https://torhoo.cc/go.php?u=TDJRdlZHVnpkRFJRWVhrPQ==# from 1/9/2022 to 23/8/2023. Posts were included if they reported the results of drug samples submitted by post to the Vancouver-based Get Your Drugs Tested service, which uses Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) with immunoassay strip tests (fentanyl and benzodiazepines).

Results.
Out of 103 samples, 65% contained only the advertised substance, 14% contained the advertised substance in combination with other psychoactive and/or potentially harmful substances, and for 21%, the advertised substance was absent. MDMA, methamphetamine and heroin were consistently found to contain only the advertised substance, while 2C-B, alprazolam and ketamine were the most likely to be completely substituted. Only one-fifth (21%) of cocaine samples contained solely the advertised substance, with 68% of the samples containing cocaine with adulterants like lidocaine, creatine, levamisole, and boric acid. No fentanyl contamination was detected. Different novel dissociatives and novel benzodiazepines were detected, as well as a nitazene compound.

Discussion and Conclusions.
Drug markets under prohibition continue to contain numerous unexpected substances, some of which can elevate risk of harm dramatically for consumers. Cryptomarkets are not immune to this problem, despite review systems which should in theory make vendors more accountable for the quality of their stock. An expansion of local drug checking services is urgently needed in the Australian context.

This is just the beginning for Test4Pay, and we look forward to what is to come. The Test4Pay team would like to thank Dr Barratt for the work she does tirelessly towards our shared goal; Harm reduction.
Thanks for taking the time to read this; both the Test4Pay team and Dr Barratt appreciate any feedback the community may have.

BD