Drugs 2.0: The Web Revolution That's Changing How the World Gets High Paperback – 5 Jun. 2014

The overall message is Harm Reduction. The book comes about the opinion intellingently, but simply enough. The book flows quite well, it's an easy read. It might be a little too easy for some.The book charts the rise of Cyber Punk culture & the internet itself as well as how this & other technological & communications innovations have increased the ease with which drugs are discovered, discussed & traded. Mike illustrates as clearly as anyone has ever done, that the authorities are close to powerless in the face of the new technology used to create & distribute new & old drugs but that they are still on the whole determined to control enrcyption technolgies that allow places such as Silk Road to exist. Notable exceptions exist in South America, in New Zealand & in Portugal & their new, sometimes highly successful experiments in decriminalistation are discussed.The aspirations of law enforcement & border controllers to irradicate Novel Psychoactive Compounds or illegal drugs supplied through the internet & the Silk Road, that are rarely delivered in amounts greater than 1kg & often in far smaller amounts, is a pipe-dream & that, while an island such as the UK is able to import the tonnes of Cocaine desired by the UK recreational market each year & that this importation takes places on an industrial scale despite the fact that Cocaine has been illegal for almost 100 years, enforcing controls of new drugs is almost impossible.Ultimately the book concludes that the recent huge increase in the popularity of RC's & Legal Highs is directly transposed by their inherent risks, that these risks are likely greater than those posed by drugs that are already illegal & that the fear of criminality drives most legal & RC drugs consumption as well as the global drive for novel compounds that dodge the law.

In the wake of the report by the Organisation of American States on the losing battle on drugs this book outlines many of the questions and options available to those in power to change official policy on known organic drugs and the new and advanced designer drugs that have spawned since the last Labour government invoked draconian powers to ban substances, against the advice of its appointed body The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD). Since then, with the ingenuity of Chemists able to circumnavigate the molecular structure of defined substances and freedom of the Internet, trade is booming. The author does list some deaths (below 20) in the UK listed as designer 'drug related' in the last 4 years. Not mentioned with the same concern by a ‘concerned government’ is that some 6,317 people in the UK died of alcohol-related deaths in the 2010 alone.

I've finished this in a couple of days. It's a fascinating account of the history of illegal and legal drugs, their synthesis/production, supply and consumption. It's very well written - though on occasion slightly repetitive but given the number of names and drugs mentioned I actually found that helpful. It's easy enough for a layman to understand. And while there is a clear message, it isn't a polemic in favour of drugs legalisation and I found it objective, unbiased, and both well-researched and well-sourced.I've written a thesis on counternarcotics policy in Afghanistan and worked on a leading report on the cocaine trade, so have an ongoing intellectual interest. I'd highly recommend this book to those who were/are part of the drugs scene or those interested in learning more about it.

It was good, and actually changed my liberal views of freedom to choose, towards more circumspect attitudes about liberalisation.I give it 3 stars because some of the research was a bit heavily reliant on web forums, and because i think there should be a second follow up book that delves into business models and organisations involved in the production of the new drugs.But a good book to explain the state of the market as it currently is.

This is a really accessible account of the rapidly changing landscape in illicit drugs supply. For me, the key sections are those that explain the world of crypto currencies such as bitcoin. We'll hear a lot more about these in the coming months as the Silk Road trial gets underway, I would encourage any interested parties to start with Power's account of how such markets developed, how they are intrinsically linked to the development of the internet and how they pose significant problems for those charged with the task of regulating the global drugs trade.

Full of lots of new information and powerful insights. Worth reading for the chapter on the Dark Web alone, which introduces the reader to the subject of Tor, encryption, and virtual currencies.Not given over to unthinking liberalism on drugs either - the author makes it clear that 'research chemicals' can be really, really dangerous, and the fact that it is almost impossible to control the supply does not automatically prove that legalization is the only option.Can't help thinking (a) that it's mad to have driven our kids from herbal substances on which it is hard to overdose towards synthetic ones the effects and correct dosage of which are poorly understood and (b) that part of the solution must surely be for the pharmaceutical industry to pull its finger out and develop a proper recreational drug program.

Well written and easy to read with clear facts and evidence to support the assertions. Really pretty scary stuff though, how the criminalisation of "mainstream" (and at worst relatively harmless) drugs like cannabis, mdma and shrooms drives young people to naively take "legal highs" which may be mis-labelled, poorly formulated or simply dangerously misunderstood - little history, no tracability etc lead to unnecessary and life-threatening risks. Seems clear we are still at very early stages of something which, if nothing is done (decriminalisation of mainstream, well-understood substances), is going to get way, way worse.

Highly highly recommend this book. With the opioid crisis underway and fentanyl flooding the markets, it's worthwhile to understand how the internet has fascilitated importing drugs in the past. A great in-depth understanding of the research chemical drug scene, where it began, what went wrong and the implications of it all. Extremely well done.

Excellent read!! A very thorough description of, what I believe to be, the final nail in the coffin of prohibitionist dominated drug policy. The authors writing style was eloquent enough to make the usually dry topic of chemistry interesting for the average reader.The history of what happened after the great Cambodian safrole burn, and resulting MDMA shortage that gave rise to the current research chemical experiment, is thoroughly documented from a British perspective. Many examples of personal correspondence with key players give this book a depth not regularly seen.If you're looking for a drug 'cookbook' this is not for you.If you're looking for a detailed history of drugs and/or dark web areas associated drugs, over the last decade, you couldn't find a better record than this book.There are no pictures which sometimes I feel help the reader mentally put themselves in the time and place described but this book was fine without it so I'm not going to reflect that in my rating.Great job Mike Power!

Really interesting topic, and generally solid execution. A look at a fascinating and quickly evolving world that is hidden from most of us. Very interesting to see how advances in chemistry, knowledge sharing, and e-commerce blend in a way that doesn't get much attention.

With "Drugs 2.0" Mike Power manages to a new journalistic bar that successfully covers and treats such radical and strange emergent social phenomena as digital drug/psychonaut culture with surprising sophistication and balance, in the process breaking from long-standing traditions of lazy capitulation to old media dynamics of either senselessly demonizing -- or, in some cases, glorifying -- the activity of recreational drug use and the subcultures/subjectivities that have and will continue to form around them.Not only is this book a great professional treatment of this niche topic (and Mike Power its current authoritative voice), it's also just a fun, riveting and accessible bit of contemporary journalistic writing. A real treat, even if you're not a hardcore psychonaut or drug nerd. A little interest in counterculture is all you need.

Great book explaining the cat and mouse game being played on psycho pharmaceuticals.