Researchers shed light on ‘hidden’ drug issues

Australian researchers have recently shed light on drug issues not often discussed, including online drug markets and organised crime targeting vulnerable young people.

For example, Amy Peacock, Associate Professor at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, and Monica Barratt, an Associate Professor at the National Drug Research Institute joined Addiction Audio to discuss tracking the supply of nitazenes on online drug markets and their research examining the availability of nitazenes via cryptomarkets and surface web shops.

Criminologist and NDRI researcher Emma Tufuga highlighted how vulnerable young people are being exploited by drug syndicates in an impassioned Opinion piece demonstrating how organised crime is using false promises, peer pressure and the lure of fast money to attract vulnerable young people in the Pacific region into crime. The issue has also been prominent recently in Australia.

“In organised crime, the people we see are not always the people in control. Too often, it is the young men at the bottom who are left exposed. They are the ones arrested, named in the news, locked away, and remembered with shame. Meanwhile, those who recruit them…and profit from their actions often remain out of sight,” Emma wrote.

“This is how organised crime protects itself. It places the greatest risk on those with the least power. Young people become useful because they are visible, replaceable and easier to abandon.”

Visit Addiction Audio to listen to the podcast and click here to read Emma’s Opinion piece

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