I've been a big proponent of the darknet markets for years. If anyone remembers, I was even a mod--mr_o--wayyy back on /r/silkroad with jmkogut (if you all remember that douchebag!) and Astrid when he (yes, he) was SpydaKrazy, and I was a mod here too maybe a year and a half ago or so. So I've been around, I've seen it all.
It's great that people have access to high quality LSD, rather than getting sold 25i on the streets and going to the hospital; it's fantastic that you're scoring unadulterated MDMA instead of a mixture of God knows what for triple the price at a festival. You can procure excellent dope without going into dangerous neighborhoods or worrying about a fent cut. You can have that flaky, shiny, beautiful fishscale delivered right to your door to use to impress the shit out of that girl so she'll take her pants off for you.
If you're encrypting, using Tor properly, employing all the basic Opsec techniques for your own protection, then the DNMs are a dream come true for any drug user.
There are some downsides and it's somethings I've been noticing more and more that are forcing me to reevaluate just how safe and liberating these markets are.
Now, of course, I believe in self-determination and personal responsibility and choice, but I've been seeing a lot of people desperately and hopelessly become addicted to benzos (e.g. xanax, etizolam, diazepam, etc.) without proper supervision or an appreciation of just how incredibly powerful these substances are and how simply popping a few pills here and there will fundamentally change the landscape of your entire life. These kids who have begun and maintained xanax addictions solely through the DNMs and, fuck, what happens when that package is delayed, or that vendor disappears or gets busted and you only have 2 left, well oh shit. What are you gonna do now?
Maybe I shouldn't single out benzos--people are hooked on meth and crack and H just the same--but judging by post frequency benzo addiction appears to be a particularly acute concern here. It's also the cheapest habit to maintain, in my opinion.
It's really great the DNMs have opened up people's worlds to a level of safety, potency, purity, availability, etc. of substances they never would have dreamed they'd have access to. The downside is people are getting in wayyy over their heads with very powerful and immensely addictive substances where talk of personal responsibility goes out the window in the face of withdrawals that might kill you.
Be careful out there, kids. That's all.
I am familiar with a somewhat underground service that helps people taper off benzos safely as not only DNMs making it so easy to get a hold of, it's one of the most irresponsibly (IMO) drugs prescribed. I was severely dependent on ativan many years ago without taking a single pill not prescribed to me. I was on a very high dose and back then not educated yet and had no idea you can't just stop taking 12mg of it every day. I ended up in the ICU for a few days, and a regular room for a whlie after.
I was fortunate to have a social worker refer me to a general practicioner who was willing to prescribe me a very very slowly decreasing dose and tapered myself off over the matter of several months.
The subject is very close to my heart after my own experience and I have many times helped people structure their own tapers. I work in pharmaceuticals and I OBSESSED over the biochemistry of neurochemical and biochemical changes the use of benzos cause and am rather committed to educating people on the safe use of them, but more importantly the safe discontinuation of use as doing it wrong can cause in the short term severe, possibly fatal symptoms and in the long term, permanent damage to certain hormone production, ability to produce the correct amount of receptors that the neurochemical that benzo's replace, as well as the potential of never producing an adequate amount of the neurochemical on one's own, making them require to stay on some dose of benzos or live with a range of uncomfortable (but not fatal) symptoms and issues.
They're not to be played fast and loose with. They have their place, but it's very easy to expand out of there.