Open secrets: how the government lost the drug war in cyberspace

Reason, Oct, 2004 by Michael Erard

By comparison to the old chemical underground, the connections offered by the online version are vast. Shroomery.org alone provides 25 links to sites in Scotland, England, France, Brazil, Russia, and elsewhere on the use of psychedelic mushrooms. It also contains links to 38 marijuana sites, six Ecstasy sites, and 14 sites dealing with miscellaneous drugs such as the cough suppressant dextromethorphan.

The 2001 report from the National Drug Intelligence Center counted 52 Web sites providing information on the production, sale, or use of Ecstasy, GHB, or LSD. An update (which the NDIC promises but has not yet done) would undoubtedly turn up more. The pro-marijuana site yahooka.com boasts 5,947 links to sites that, among other things, promote drug policy reform, discuss cannabis culture, offer marijuana-related goods and services, and provide growing information. There are links to 1,203 sites in languages other than English, including one in Arabic and one in Latvian.

This plethora of information has altered the drug war in numerous ways, some of them predictable. Web sites that sold pipes and bongs were easy targets for Operation Pipe Dreams, the Department of Justice's 2003 crackdown on drug paraphernalia merchants, which netted 55 suspects and led to at least 56 indictments (including one that sent actor Tommy Chong to jail for nine months). For those trying to avoid that sort of trouble, the Internet has been a source of advice on how to escape attention and deal with authorities. The experts at Erowid, for instance, answer questions about what substances show up on drug tests, including techniques for beating the tests, as do the message boards at urineluck.com, owned by Spectrum Labs, a Cincinnati-based company that makes detoxification products to beat drug tests.

The drug war in cyberspace also has led to goofy attempts at hipness, such as the government's aforementioned Freevibe (freevibe.com). The site, which promises the "lowdown" on marijuana and other drugs, is mainly an advertisement for other anti-drug efforts, with a few interactive features, such as a message board that features dramatic scare stories about older sisters dying from marijuana overdoses and the like. A news section hasn't been updated since 2003, and the drug facts link promises the "latest" research--from 1999. In the Ecstasy section, no mention is made of Dr. George Ricaurte, the author of a Science article in 2002 that was retracted because the substance given to research animals was methamphetamine, not Ecstasy. However, a visitor can send an e-mail "Stoner greeting card" ("for when bad things happen 'cause someone was stoned"), which is the only humorous moment in the entire site.

By comparison to sites like yahooka.com, urineluck.com, or bluelight.nu, Freevibe is a cultural wasteland. On February 26 two people had posted their "anti-drug": someone named Dude, who said "my anti drug is the marines," and Jaden of LBC, who wrote: "My anti-drug? My future lets face it folks turning to drugs isnt exactly getting rid of your issue or issues that made you turn to them drugs a whole new set of issues sometimes the key to helping oneself is through helping others if your life sucks that bad join the military or do community service helping others is quite possibly the greatest feeling you can get when you feel appreciated."