Monitoring and Analysis of Novel Psychoactive Substances in Trends Databases, Surface Web and the Deep Web, with Special Interest and Geo-Mapping of the Middle East

BACKGROUND Novel or new psychoactive substances (NPS), also known as designer drugs and research chemicals, represent a relatively recent phenomenon which can be traced back to the last decade or even earlier. The growth of this phenomenon and its electronic trade (e-trade) has been logarithmic and alarming; its aftermaths are not limited to; the economy, individual and public health, or illicit drug trade. The discipline of NPS has been extensively studied since 2010. However, there are still deficits in; data from the Middle East and the developing world including Arabic countries (1), application of data science and inferential hypothesis testing (2), implementation of the principles and theories of social science (3), utilization of experimental designs including randomised controlled trials (RCT) and quasiexperimental studies (4), and ultimately the enactment of real-time web analysis and the realization of tools of knowledge discovery in databases (5). AIM AND OBJECTIVES This study will implement an innovative research approach by combining observational analyses and data science; the aim is to provide generalizable (inferential) data in relation to NPS e-commerce activities on both divisions of the web, surface and deep. The pinnacle objective is to; assess the proportional magnitude of NPS e-commerce activity in the Middle East (1), provide a thorough analysis of the e-vendors on the darknet, both globally and regionally (Middle East) (2), correlate change in trends of e-commerce with time (3), provide recommendations for future studies in relation to the ecommerce activity in the Middle East (4), and to discuss the colossal potential of data mining technologies (5). MATERIALS AND METHODS This dissertation embodies the integrative and combinatorial approach towards the investigation of the e-trade (e-commerce) of NPS; it is made of integrated studies allocated into eleven results chapters. The utilised investigative tools represent a mixed-breed of observational web analytics including; literature review ...