Drugs unlimited
Subtitle: the web revolution that's changing how the world gets high
By: Mike Power
Edition: First U.S. edition.
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Published: 2014
Language: eng
Number of pages: 316
ISBN-13: 9781250054715
Subjects: Electronic commerce; Drug traffic; Computer crimes; Internet marketing
Description: "The very first thing ever bought or sold on the Internet was marijuana, when Stanford and MIT students used ARPANET to cut a deal in the early '70s. Today, you can order any conceivable pill or powder with the click of a mouse. In Drugs Unlimited, Mike Power tells the tale of drugs in the Internet Age, in which users have outmaneuvered law enforcement, breached international borders, and created a massive worldwide black market. But the online market in narcotics isn't just changing the way drugs are bought and sold; it's changing the nature of drugs themselves. Enterprising dealers are using the Web to engage highly skilled foreign chemists to tweak the chemical structures of banned drugs--just enough to create a similar effect and just enough to render them legal in most parts of the world. Drugs are marketed as "not for human consumption," but everyone knows exactly how they're going to be used--what they can't know is whether their use might prove fatal. From dancefloors to the offices of apathetic government officials, via social networking sites and underground labs, Power explores this agile, international, virtual subculture that will always be one step ahead of the law"--
Notes: Originally published: London : Portobello, 2013.

Includes bibliographical references and index.