Relevance of cryptomarkets, characteristics of purchasers and possibilities for survey research: experience from the European Web Survey on Drugs

IF 0.9 Q3 Psychology
J. Strizek, Alexandra Karden, J. Matias
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Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the relevance of cryptomarkets, characteristics of purchasers and possibilities for survey research by approaching users directly on cryptomarkets. Design/methodology/approach Cross-country comparison of the results from the European Web Survey on Drugs (EWSD) and summarizing lessons learned during the data collection was carried out. Findings Purchasers of drugs on cryptomarkets are still a rather small segment of all drug purchasers, and most people who use cryptomarkets also use other sources of supply to buy drugs. The percentage of people using cryptomarkets is unevenly distributed across countries and substances. Purchasers on cryptomarkets in most countries are more likely to be men and more likely, on average, to use more substances. Other characteristics such as age or place of residence do not show a consistent pattern across countries. Recruitment of respondents on cryptomarkets calls for specific techniques and procedures. Specific attention should be paid to build trust and guarantee credibility and anonymity. Research limitations/implications Interpretation of the quantitative results is limited by nonprobabilistic sampling and different recruitment strategies in different countries. Practical implications Users of cryptomarkets show some specific characteristics, providing a challenge for research and prevention agencies to keep up with digital technology. Increasing knowledge about characteristics of users of cryptomarkets may help to create adequate responses for harm reduction measures in different supply settings. However, collecting self-reported data from users on cryptomarkets is limited owing to significant privacy concerns and requires specific skills and strategies. Originality/value The EWSD provides a rare opportunity for detailed analyses of consumption patterns and characteristics of active drug users across several European countries. Furthermore, experiences of a new recruitment strategy are discussed.
加密市场的相关性、购买者的特征和调查研究的可能性:来自欧洲药品网络调查的经验
本文的目的是通过直接接触加密市场上的用户来评估加密市场的相关性,购买者的特征和调查研究的可能性。设计/方法/方法对欧洲药品网络调查(EWSD)的结果进行了跨国比较,并总结了在数据收集过程中吸取的经验教训。在加密市场上购买药物的人仍然是所有药物购买者中相当小的一部分,大多数使用加密市场的人也使用其他供应来源购买药物。使用加密货币市场的人口比例在不同国家和物质之间分布不均。在大多数国家,加密货币市场上的购买者更有可能是男性,而且平均而言,更有可能使用更多的物质。其他特征,如年龄或居住地,在各国之间没有显示出一致的模式。在加密市场上招募受访者需要特定的技术和程序。要特别注意建立信任,保证可信性和匿名性。研究局限性/启示定量结果的解释受到非概率抽样和不同国家不同的招聘策略的限制。加密货币市场的用户表现出一些特定的特征,为研究和预防机构跟上数字技术的步伐提供了挑战。增加对加密市场用户特征的了解可能有助于在不同的供应环境中制定适当的减少危害措施。然而,由于严重的隐私问题,从加密市场用户那里收集自我报告的数据是有限的,需要特定的技能和策略。原创性/价值EWSD为详细分析几个欧洲国家活跃吸毒者的消费模式和特征提供了难得的机会。此外,还讨论了新招聘策略的经验。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Drugs and Alcohol Today
Drugs and Alcohol Today SUBSTANCE ABUSE-
CiteScore
1.60
自引率
0.00%
发文量
1
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