The characterisation problem of digital drug in the Iraqi criminal system

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu14.2025.114

Abstract

Basing on the current laws in Iraq’s criminal legislative system, this research addresses the issue of identifying a legal framework for characterising digital drugs and thereby establishing criminal culpability. We have tried to urge the Iraqi federal and Kurdistan regional legislators to synchronise the repercussions of the emerging cybercrime and predicate the future consequences of such crimes, based on the principle of protecting the security, stability, and safety of society by enacting modern laws to confront cybercrime, and not impunity for the perpetrators. Therefore, in order to understand the topics of the research, we divided the research into two sections: in the first topic, we studied what digital drugs are (the definition) by defining the mechanism of action of these drugs, in addition to studying the scientific and legal challenges of confronting digital drugs, while in the second topic, we studied the legal mechanism for characterising digital drugs through two approaches: in the first of them, we tried to characterise digital drugs as conventional drugs, while in the second approach, we tried to characterise this drug as a digital fraud. Hence, considering the digitization of drugs, aspects of their organisation and use are embodied in or derived from interconnected computerised systems and databases. This research examines how this development has changed the provision of legislative protection and thus the organisation of regulatory and professional structures as it reshapes the material character of drugs themselves. It draws on the concept of assemblage to provide a theory-based analysis that explores the ontological status of digital drugs, including how they embody utility and value. These are drugs that rely on and are largely composed of multiple digital representations and connections, the use and effectiveness of which are powerfully mediated through digital means. Whereas we still oppose the idea of digital drugs in favour of their non-digital or pre-digital counterparts, or the analogue version.

Keywords:

digital drugs, conventional drugs, binaural beats, allucinogen, delta waves, lectroencephalogram, digital neural network, binaural reproduction

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
 

References

References

Abadin, A. F. M. Z., A. Imtiaz, M. M. Ahmed, M. Dutta. 2021. “A brief study of binaural beat: A means of brain-computer interfacing”. Advances in Human-Computer Interaction, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/6814208

Abhang, P. A., B. W. Gawali, S. C. Mehrotra. 2016. “Technological basics of EEG recording and operation of apparatus”. Introduction to EEG- and Speech-Based Emotion Recognition, 19–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978‑0‑12‑804490‑2.00002-6

Aldridge, J., A. Rebecca. 2016. “When drug dealers can advertise: How drug cryptomarkets enable drug dealers to advertise”. 10th Annual Conference of the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy, 27–32. Sydney. (Illicit Drug Data Report)

Aldridge, J., A. Rebecca. 2017. “Delivery dilemmas: How drug cryptomarket users identify and seek to reduce their risk of detection by law enforcement”. International Journal of Drug Policy 41 (March): 101–109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2016.10.010

Aldridge, J., D. Decary-Hetu. 2014. “Not an ‘Ebay for drugs’: The cryptomarket ‘silk road’ as a paradigm shifting criminal innovation”. SSRN Electronic Journal January. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2436643

Aldridge, J., D. Decary-Hetu. 2016. “Cryptomarkets and the future of illicit drug markets”. Internet and Drug Markets, EMCDDA insights: 23–30. Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union.

Al-Rifai, I. F. A., N. G. I. Zina. 2022. Digital Drugs: Types and Addiction to Their Causes. Beirut. Accessed March 18, 2025. https://www.carjj.org/category/studies-and-research/2070/digital-drugs-they-typesand-the-cause-addiction. (In Arabic)

Aly, A. E., I. Hansa, D. J. Ferguson, N. R. Vaid. 2022. “The effect of alpha binaural beat music on orthodontic pain after initial archwire placement: A randomized controlled trial”. Dental Press Journal of Orthodontics 27 (6). https://doi.org/10.1590/2177-6709.27.6.e2221150.oar

Barratt, M. J. 2011. “Discussing illicit drugs in public internet forums: Visibility, stigma, and pseudonymity”. C&T’11 Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Communities and Technologies. Eds J. Kjeldskov, J. Paay, 159–168. Brisbane; New York, ACM.

Caulkins, J., P. Reuter. 1998. “What price data tell us about drug markets”. Journal of Drug 28: 593–612.

Denton, B., P. O’Malley. 1999. “Gender, trust and business: Women drug dealers in the illicit economy”. The British Journal of Criminology 39: 513–530.

Galenianos, M., R. L. Pacula, N. Persico. 2012. “A search-theoretic model of the retail market for illicit drugs”. Review of Economic Studie 79: 1239–1269.

Jacques, S., R. Rosenfeld, R. Wright, F. van Gemert. 2016. “Effects of prohibition and decriminalization on drug market conflict”. Criminology Public Policy 15: 843–875.

Knezevic, M. Z., I. C. Bivolarevic, T. S. Peric, S. M. Jankovic. 2011. “Using Facebook* to increase spontaneous reporting of adverse drug reactions”. Drug Safety 34 (4): 351–352. https://doi.org/10.2165/11590110‑000000000‑00000

Moore, D. 2008. “Erasing pleasure from public discourse on illicit drugs: On the creation and reproduction of an absence”. International Journal of Drug Policy 19: 353–358.

Muller, C. P., G. Schumann. 2011. “Drugs as instruments: A new framework for non-addictive psychoactive drug use”. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 34 (6): 293–310. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X11000057

Downloads

Published

2025-04-22

How to Cite

Abdulkareem, F. A. A. (2025). The characterisation problem of digital drug in the Iraqi criminal system. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Law, 16(1), 187–199. https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu14.2025.114

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2025)

Section

Foreign and International Law

License

Articles of "Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Law" are open access distributed under the terms of the License Agreement with Saint Petersburg State University, which permits to the authors unrestricted distribution and self-archiving free of charge.