Canada is set to legalize recreational marijuana next month, however, the impact this will have on online drug marketplaces has remained unclear.

To study this in detail, the Department of Public Safety Canada is looking to order a study that will shed light on the cryptomarkets – online drug marketplaces that rely on the TOR browser and cryptocurrencies – with regards to the North American country and its citizens.

The study will concentrate on both buyers and sellers of cannabis on the cryptomarkets:

“The general goal of this project is to estimate the extent to which cannabis is illicitly bought and sold by Canadians on cryptomarkets, identify trends in the buying and selling behaviors of Canadian cryptomarket users, and discuss the policy and law enforcement implications of cryptomarkets within a Canadian context following legalization.”

Particularly, the study will be expected to determine the volume of cannabis sold by Canadian merchants to Canadian buyers in 2017 as well as build buyer and vendor profiles. Comparisons between the dark web drug market with the traditional drug distribution market will be required to be drawn while also determining the relationship between organized crime networks and cryptomarkets.

Noticeably, Canada is one of the leading countries in the world in the illicit trade of drugs on the internet. With cannabis making up 33% of all the online drug transactions, Canada is hoping to recognize the kind and amount of impact the legalization of recreational pot on October 17 will have on the cryptomarkets.

This news comes at a time when the proposed legalization move by the Canadian government is sending the publicly-listed cannabis stocks soaring. The soaring stock prices of cannabis stocks saw some financial analysts compare it to the ‘bitcoin boom’ that was experienced in 2017.

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