Analysis of Silk Road Reveals Marijuana, Cocaine Prices are Relatively Low in U.S.

An analysis of drug prices on the recently shuttered website Silk Road reveals cocaine and marijuana sell for less in the United States than in many other countries, CNN Money reports.

Last week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation shut down Silk Road, an online marketplace that sold illegal drugs including heroin, cocaine, opioid pills, Ecstasy and LSD. They arrested the operator in San Francisco on narcotics and money-laundering charges.

In August, a website called The Price Geek, which states it aims to provide market prices of anything, analyzed data on the two most popular drugs sold on Silk Road, marijuana and cocaine.

Silk Road did not use credit cards, instead relying on “Bitcoins,” an untraceable digital currency that is available through online currency exchange services. CNN Money converted the drugs’ prices to their value in U.S. dollars. They calculated a person using 1.8 grams of marijuana per week would spend $20 in Canada, $27 in the United States, $32 in the Czech Republic, $34 in the Netherlands, $35 in the United Kingdom, $39 in Australia, $39 in Poland and $40 in Germany.

The weekly cost of cocaine for someone using 50 milligrams per day would be $26 in Peru, $35 in the United States, $41 in Canada, $43 in the Netherlands, $49 in Belgium, $52 in Germany, $64 in the United Kingdom and $94 in Australia, according to the article.