The “Spice” Trade

• Date: 01 September 2018
• Author: Helgi Valur Daníelsson,Tim Surmont,Roumen Sedefov,Brendan Hughes
• Published date: 01 September 2018
• DOI: 10.1177/1057567717745345
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

The “Spice” Trade: A Profit

Estimation of EU Online Vendors

of Herbal Smoking Mixtures

Tim Surmont

1

, Helgi Valur Danı

´elsson

1

, Brendan Hughes

1

,

and Roumen Sedefov

1

Abstract

There are currently over 170 synthetic cannabinoids monitored by the European Union Early

Warning System, making it the single largest group of new psychoactive substances, often marketed

as “legal” replacements to cannabis. The Internet, coupled with cheap and efficient shipping, has

allowed countries like China and India to become the chemical and pharmaceutical wholesalers and

retailers to the world. These companies ship synthetic cannabinoids to Europe, where they are

processed and packaged into a range of products, smokable herbal mixtures being the most com-

mon one. The herbal mixtures, often referred to as “Spice,” are then sold via online shops on the

surface web, using sophisticated marketing techniques, potentially generating high profits. We

decided to use available data on the synthetic cannabinoid 5F-MDMB-PINACA to estimate those

profits. After making an inventory of the required materials and the typical retail price, we made a

lower and upper bound profit estimation. We found that the return on costs varies between 3.3 and

24.4 after the first production and rises to a range between 5.5 and 42.5. By applying a basic

economic model, our estimations show that profits in this type of business are substantial.

Keywords

synthetic cannabinoids, 5F-MDMB-PINACA, herbal spice, online vendors, profit

Over the last decade, entrepreneurs have started selling substances intended to mimic the effects

of traditional drugs: chemical compounds that are not prohibited by (inter)national laws, offered on

the open market, reasoning that whatever is not expressly prohibited must be allowed for open sale

(European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Add iction [EMCDDA]-Eurojust, 2016). The

combination of globalization and innovation in communications technologies means that these new

psychoactive substances (NPSs) have been developed, produced and marketed internationally at

great speed, and sold openly in specialized shops in towns and cities as well as via the Internet

1

European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), Lisbon, Portugal

Corresponding Author:

Tim Surmont, European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), Prac¸a Europa 1, Cais do Sodre

´, 1249

Lisbon, Portugal.

Email: tim.surmont@emcdda.europa.eu

International CriminalJustice Review

2018, Vol. 28(3) 243-254

ª2017 Georgia State University

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DOI: 10.1177/1057567717745345

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