Online sales of marijuana: An unrecognized public health dilemma

Abstract

The Internet hosts many unregulated marketplaces for otherwise regulated products. 1 , 2 If extended to marijuana (or cannabis), 3 online markets can undermine both the U.S. Controlled Substances Act, which bans marijuana sales, and the regulatory regimes of states that have legalized marijuana. Consequently, regardless of the regulatory regime, understanding the online marijuana market should be a public health priority. Herein, the scale and growth trajectory of the online marijuana marketplace was assessed for the first time by analyzing aggregate Internet searches and the links searchers typically find. 4