It's had an interesting effect on more isolated drug markets (like New Zealand)- I mean, people are suprisingly aware of what are generally considered fairly 'obscure' research chemicals. Like 2C-B & 2C-E has flooded the market in the last couple of years and pretty much everyone knows what they are and know the general difference between their effects. The same with methylone, buphedrone, MDPV, methoxetamine, mephedrone...
Mephedrone is probably the best (and worst) example of this- there is an actual distinct subculture of mephedrone fiends who know they're getting mephedrone and actively seek it out. They're generally young (15-25) and act like typical speed-freaks. Although I must say I think that it's a good thing, I'm not gonna complain about increased availability and choice- particularly when it comes it psychedelics and dissociatives, I do find the trend of high school kids buying large amounts of what, in reality, aren't 'soft' 'harmless' drugs- like mephedrone or methoxetamine. Some kid almost died last year after overdosing on MB2B (2-Methyl-2-Butanol) and alcohol that he bought for fucking pocket change and a prepaid credit card. That part of it is fucked up.
The other, probably scarier thing (kids will be kids- if you could get mail order drugs as easily when I was a teenager I may well be dead heh) is that is is probably creating a lot of very isolated, naive addicts. I mean, how many benzo addicts are there walking around simply because etizolam and phenazepam are so easily available? Most of them probably doon't even realise they're addicted- what happens when they supply inevitabily dries up? I'm worried that there is going to be a flood of 'ADDICTED TO BENZOS AND SCARED!! PLEASE HELP!!' when the benzo RC's get banned. I mean, if you're in the 'drug scene' you're always only a few steps away from some form of drug treatment. It might not be easy to get the help you need, but you know where to go and what to do or you know people who are in treatment of some kind or have been through treatment and know how the system works- even if you don't take the help, you have the knowledge of where to get it should you need it....
But the sorta people buying this shit off the net, I bet the silent majority of RC users don't post on forums, don't sell it, don't use it with friends- they have their own private parties, do their own experiments. So what sort of a position are they gonna be in if they need treatment? That's why the benzos particularly worry me- it seems almost inevitable that someone who is heavily addicted is going to die, horribly, of a grande mal seizure because they don't know how to go about getting help, or are just flat out too scared or ashamed of what's happening to get the assistance they need.
tl;dr = It's got it's ups and downs. But really- how did anyone not see this shit coming? Porn practically built the internet, how far behind did you really think drugs were gonna be?
