Issue 1Free

About Us

This issue is the first, real, published issue of Sample magazine, after a year of development, we have finally reached the point of publishing. The road here has been long and hard, and after much blood, sweat and tears. We have finally reached print! Whether you followed us from the start or whether you are just picking up our first issue now, I would like to welcome you to our publication with open arms, for if it were not for our readers, we would not be in this situ-ation. So I would like to thank you all for your support, and without further adew I would like to welcome you all to the first edition of Sample magazine. Enjoy!

Editor

Will Gricewill_grice@hotmail.com

Creative Designer

Will Gricewill_grice@hotmail.com

Thanks to:

Host RestaurantDuke Street EspressoSertOneWeavers Door LJMULee FlemingJohn Towner Daniel MaddoxBierEl BanditoBonefaceDavid Keyte

Welcome to the first issue of The Sample Magazine

The Espresso BarDuke St. Espresso

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The RestaurantHost

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The PubBier

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The IllustratorBoneface

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The Black MarketThe Deep Internet

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The MusicianSertOne

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The DesignerDavid Keyte

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The BarEl Bandito

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Bold Street Coffee is a café some of us are very familiar with, it’s vibrant inte-rior and delectable coffee is a favorite amongst coffee lovers of all shapes and sizes. However its Bold Street’s little sister that has been causing quite a stir (no pun intended) as of recent. Nestled away on Duke Street stands one of Liverpool’s most intriguing cafés, the Duke Street Espresso Bar. Whilst it may be smaller in size than Bold Street, the size of its menu and the fantastic selection of hot and cold drinks is just as vast as it’s Bold Street counterpart. With a wide array of different coffees and the cheapest yet most delicious espresso going, it is easy to see why Duke Street Espresso has become a recent favorite with Liv-erpool’s coffee drinkers. However, it’s not just fantastic cof-fee that is offered up by the brilliant baristas in Duke Street, their menu is also prepared cakes and bagels and in true Bold Street Coffee style the quaint

little espresso bar on Duke Street also hosts a number of fantastic events. Including ‘A Taste of El Bandito’ which was a fantastic night of tequila filled fun and the evewhich was a fantastic night of tequila filled fun, and the even more glutton-ous ice cream tasting evening which definitely added a couple of inches to the waists of all involved.So if you find yourself on Duke Street and in need of a quick little energy boost then there is no better place to go that the Duke Street Espresso Bar. The glorious interior will act as the perfect accompaniment for your scrumptious espresso (keep an eye out for the ceiling hanging completely made of espresso cups!), and you will find yourself coming back again and again.

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HOSTHope Street is home to a number of fantastic restaurants, and is arguably the cultural hub of Liverpool. In the middle of the metropolitan street stands one of Liverpool’s most

revered Pan-Asian restaurants, HOST.

Hope Street is one of Liverpool’s most iconic streets, not only does it act as the road that connects the city’s two Cathedrals but it is also home to some of city’s best theatres, restaurants and pubs. Traditionally people go to Hope Street because they want thoughtful food, educated entertainment and smooth drinks. The immersive culture on Hope Street has helped it become a mecca for those who want a good meal at a reasonable price. Amongst the endless lines of restaurants stand three of the city’s most revered eateries, 60 Hope Street, HOST and the Quarter. With all three restaurants offering some fantastic dishes, it is safe to say there is plenty of choice for the discerning foodie. However in my opinion, it is HOST, which really stands head and shoulders above the rest.

Their menu is diverse and innovative, the interior is sleek and stylish and the staff are friendly and cooperative. With relation to the menu, it is easy to see that the food at HOST has been influenced by a number of different cultures and traditions. The menu fuses together the best pieces of Western and Eastern delicacies and finds a happy medium where the food is thoughtful yet familiar. For those of you wanting to try something different and unusual there are plenty of intelligent takes on a number of traditional dishes including one of my favorites, the Tempura Salmon Nori Rolls, which is a fantastic dish served up with a tangy Wasabi mayo. This dish is one of my favorites and is a very interesting take on the traditional Japanese Nori roll. The fine Tempura batter wraps around the seaweed and salmon in such a way that it gives the

sushi a completely new lease of life, the batter is crisp yet not too thick and in turn compliments the other ingredients in such a way that three pieces of sushi just won’t be enough to satisfy your insatiable desire for more and more Nori rolls!

However, the food served in HOST isn’t just traditional Eastern cuisine with a cutting edge. A lot of their dishes combine some of the most traditional pieces of British and American cuisine in such a way that you feel as though what you are bearing witness to is a completely new culinary experience. One of the most interesting and unusual pieces on the ‘Little Dishes’ menu is the McHost, which is a fantastic piece of crispy hoi sin belly pork layered between two soft buns and finely garnished with a fresh salad. Based on the traditional American hamburger, the McHost blows your preconceptions of a burger completely out the water. Gone are the days of tasteless beef patties sandwiched between two pieces of lackluster bread, instead you are welcomed with a tangy mini burger that is ridiculously moreish. All in all, this makes the McHost a deserved winner of the Weavers Door seal of approval.

However the quality of food doesn’t just stop at the ‘Little Dishes’ menu, the ‘Big Dishes’ menu is equally as diverse and innovative as it’s little sister. Many restaurants are seen to offer quality food in rather measly portions because of the ‘quality over quantity’ ethos, however HOST are one of the few restaurants I have been to that offer both quality and quantity in equal proportions. Whilst the food on the ‘Little Dishes’ menu offers more of a Western/Eastern cross over, the ‘Big Dishes’ menu offers more of a traditional Eastern culinary experience. This, however, does not hinder the dishes in anyway and in true HOST style makes the

food even more delectable. Some of my personal favorites on the ‘Big Dishes’ menu include the like of the Red Duck Coconut Curry, the Crisp Fried Fillet of Sea Bass, the Crispy Lamb Shoulder and the ever-popular Nasi Goreng. The Red Duck Coconut Curry is a fantastic take on the traditional Thai Red Curry in the sense that rather than using the traditional ingredients of chicken breast and red pepper, HOST have completely re-sculpted the recipe by infusing the traditional Thai curry with two fantastic, traditional Eastern delicacies – duck and lychee. Whilst it may seem unusual to add lychee to a curry, it is safe to say that the sweet, tender pieces of lychee compliment the rich, fragrant curry in such a way that you’ll never want to just have a boring red pepper in a curry ever again.

The Crispy Lamb Shoulder is one of the most delectable dishes I have ever had the pleasure of trying. The meat is

combined with spiced puy lentils and raita, which in turn results in a dish full of flavor and character. The dish also offers customers the chance to try something that is more native to the Middle East as opposed to the Far East, which in turn shows the quality of the chefs and the true diversity of the menu.

However, the culinary innovation at HOST doesn’t just stop at their choice of unusual ingredients. The drinks menu is just as well thought out as the food menu. HOST offer a wide array of superb wines at reasonable prices (my favorite tipple being the 2011 Simonsig Chenin Blanc) as well as a large number of intelligent cocktails including all the classics and a couple of Asian infused creations made especially for HOST by their brilliant bartenders. However, for those of you after a good old pint of beer, HOST also offer a number of local guest ales so there will be no shortage of choice for even the most picky

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drinkers.

With most main courses fluttering around the £10 mark, it is safe to say that HOST is definitely a safe bet no matter what the occasion. The diverse range of dishes and the innovation of those in the kitchen is unbeatable and in turn has made HOST my restaurant of choice for every occasion.

However, the good times don’t just stop at the dinner menu. The folks at HOST have also been nice enough to offer a superb lunch menu, which completely redefines the meaning of ‘good value’. The ‘Chop Chop’ lunch menu offers you a set-menu ‘Big Dish’ and a soft drink or hot drink of your choice, all for the brilliant price of £5. This is a deal definitely not worth missing out on.

Bier: Newington Temple

Liverpool is a city that is filled with a number of fantastic pubs and is home to some of the country’s finest

breweries.

However, there’s a new pub in town that is really causing a stir amongst the locals. Bier on Newington Temple, is a brilliant little pub that is located just around the corner from the bustling Bold Street. Inside, the pub is a classic wooden build and is home to some of the city’s best beers. Bier also pride themselves on serving a wide range of international tipples that aren’t available anywhere else.

What’s even better is the food. Bier serve some of the best pies in the city. All of which are brought in daily from the local Pieminister factory. They also serve pizza from the city’s best pizzeria - American

Pizza Slice!

It would probably be suitable to start by asking you how you first got into music?My grandfather was a musician and could play anything you handed him. My sister is a classically trained harpist and pianist so i’ve always been surrounded by music but got into music in a big way when i was 10/11. I got my first set of turntables and a mixer when i was 11 and started making beats on Cubase a few years later.

We may as well follow this up by embarassing you a little bit and asking you what was the first record you bought and what gig you attended first?First bit of music i bought was two cassettes on the same day, one was Papa Roach and the other was Xzibit. The first piece of vinyl I bought was License to Ill by the Beastie Boys. I’ve been dj’ing in bar and clubs from a young age but the first big concert or show I went to was Kanye West in Dublin. Still a Kanye West fan till this day, even if he acts the

SertOneTipped as an act to look out for in 2013, SertOne is a Hip Hop / Beat producer from Ireland who has found himself re-siding in Liverpool, and after a busy few years he has had a number of releases on the brilliant ‘Melted Music’ and is set

to be one of the starletts for 2013.

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As a Hip Hop producer, it’s safe to say that there have been some fantastic artists in your lifetime. Who would you say has been the biggest influence on you as a musician?I’ve been pretty lucky listening to hip hop for about 12 years so i’ve seen a lot of artists and movements come and go. The biggest single influence has been and probably will always been J Dilla, was listening to him even before i knew it with acts like ATCQ, The Pharcyde and Busta Rhymes. I’d be making beats for a year or so before getting really into Dilla and hearing what he could do made me want to up my game and get better and better.

If you could do a collaboration with anyone, who would it be and why?Really difficult question as there are so many people i’d love to work with, but due to seeing them playing live this summer, i’d say Little Dragon. The use of synths is amazing, there sound is simple but powerful and the voice is delicate but stands its ground on the track. For the same reason i’d love to watch Broadcast making their records. They capture a sound that I have no idea how to approach but love.

I know you were very busy playng a large number of gigs and festivals over the last summer. Which one was your favourite?I was really lucky to share the stage with

some unbelievable acts this summer and its always great to get to play your own music to people but the most enjoyable festival show this year was at Castepalooza in Ireland. The a week before this show my laptop died and I thought I had lost all my files, with no backup, thankfully a few days before I manage to rescue most of it but then of the show it died again. This meant i’d lost my live set and had to do a DJ set instead. The stress that week was completely blown away with that set. Also had my label mate Monto playing before me and Manchester’s legendary Illum Sphere right after, was a lot of fun. A recording of that set will be available soon from my friends in Australia at DTS Hates You. (https://www.facebook.com/dtshatesyou)

How do you feel the Liverpool Beat / Hip Hop scene has evolved over the last few years? It’s been an interesting few years, when i moved to Liverpool six years ago it was very vibrate. I used to head down to Chibuku as early as possible to catch No Fakin, and places like The Magent and Djangos Riff had live sets and big DJs on every week. Things seemed to quieten down all of a sudden. Maybe it was the recession? Now the scene is healthy again with nights like Abandon Silence bringing big names from all over the UK, Sessions Faction uniting all the DJs into one movement and the return of Hip Hop to the city with Madnice Marauders. Myself and Bolts have been very lucky to work with the Madnice guys and add a beat element to the night. As far as the beat scene its still tiny, Mumps, Bolts and myself are the only producers I know of pursing that sound but would love to hear a few new producers pop up.

How does the music scene in Ireland differ to the state of play in the UK?Its a whole other scene completely. In places like Dublin and Cork you could go to an all Irish line up of huge names of amazing quality but you’ve never heard of in the UK. Its a very friendly scene and close knit, everyone seems to know everyone and help each other out. I tend to find the UK to be overly competitive where as the Irish scene is much more open armed. Am example of this is how Mumps and Bolts (both English artists) who have both been able to establish themselves in the beat scene over there and getting shows other there last year and already getting shows booked from next summers festivals where as when we play in Liverpool we struggle to pull much of a crowd.

Have you ever found it difficult to balance time between your music career and family?Yeah its a constant struggle, just like anything else if you want to be successful at you have to give it a lot of attention. Up until about 2 years ago i’d seen it more as a hobby but now I see it as my career and take things as if I was working for someone else, so schedule time for emails in the morning, a few hours to work on music, lunch then back to the music, etc. But just as it would be if i working for someone else I get the evenings off to spend time with the family and try to find some kind of balance.

Have you got any significant plans for the future?I’ve just moved into a new flat in Liverpool so am in the middle of rebuilding my bedroom studio. I have two new projects out under newaliases that am excited about and then once

they are out am working with some of my favourite artists on a project. Whether that will be an album or another EP I don’t know yet, but its more of the same really, more making music, more touring, just more. Also have my very first viny out at the end of the year with Melted Music, which is a re-release of my last EP with some bonus remixes and then in the new year i’ve a cassette out with Bolts under the moniker Almighty Sion which is being released by Original Cultures.

First things first, could you give us a quick summary of the background of Universal Works for our readers who aren’t familiar with the heritage of your company? I started the company 4 years ago, I have been in the clothing industry most of my adult life, working for some of the best companies in the UK. I came late to starting my own brand but the time felt right and I wanted to know all I could before starting my own brand. We aim to produce wearable, simple, stylish yet understated and confident clothing for proper guys. It’s not fashion really just great pieces you can fit into your life and maybe last longer than a season or two. Attention to detail and things that work well was my aim.

Could you tell us the major influences of your work as a designer? Rei Kawakubo (comme des garcon) for her design single mindedness; Dries Van Noten for his sense of shape and colour; Massimo Osti for his adaption of military styling; 45RPM for the maintenance of an idea and attention to detail; Kolor for great new modern menswear, (shame I can’t afford it!); Folk for having their own identity when many around can look alike; Levi’s, for their back catalogue; Nike for their innovation. Outside of clothing: Dieter Rams for his principles; the Eames’; Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Oscar Niemermier. More recently: Wes Anderson the film maker and Tom Dixon the English product designer. For a time period I would always go

David Keyte David Keyte is the owner and head designer of Universal Works, one of the most highly regarded brands of recent years. With a number of his designs influenced by the uniforms he and his father wore during their time as coal miners, David has become a massive hit with people up and down the country, and is fast becoming one of Britain’s

favourite designers.

for the fifties I think, I love the classic British menswear of the time, and by the end of that decade much of the world emerging into a modern era, but only as a reference point. I think its important to always look forward, be aware of heritage but not live in it, too much of that in Britain, we need to stop living in a theme park bubble of “old England” and embrace the 21st century more. So my favorite time period is TODAY.

How did your time at Paul Smith influence you as a designer?He was the greatest teacher in the British clothing industry and the hardest working guy I know, and he trusted me to do things when I don’t thing anyone else would have, I am forever in his debt.

In a number of other interviews I have read that you favor ‘functionality over style’, could you tell us why you feel

functionality should play such a major part in the engineering of a garment? The clue is in the name, the WORKS bit of our brand is as I want of the garments, to be fit for our lives today, be well made affordable and perform well, both in terms of shape and “look” as well as in the quality and the ease of care, and to be part of your life. To me its luxury to be able to consider each morning what you wear and how you look then forget about it for the rest of the day and get on with more important things. Not following trends but wearing what’s right for you, not what someone else tells you is “cool”.

In your opinion, how has the fashion industry evolved over recent year?Well we are all more informed now, we all know or feel we know more about clothing and fashion, and everything has become a brand, from Tesco to entire countries. Now Menswear has become (almost) as important as

Womenswear in industry terms and in many household budgets, so it’s grown hugely in the last 10/15 years. But for me its too much in the pockets of big brands/ big advertisers, big corporations with big budgets and too much power, I am lucky to travel a lot for my job and I see too many people around the world all looking the same. I am hoping to see more people interested in buying from smaller brands and creating more individual things. The increase in Internet shopping should give us the chance to express our individuality not all dress the same.

How have things been going in your new Lambs Conduit Street store? You’re obviously on a street with brands that share a similar ethos to you (Folk & Oliver Spencer), how has this helped?It is not a really major shopping street, its hardly Oxford St, but I have always loved it and we were happy to have the chance to join the other brands on the street. The others you mention are great friends of ours and are both great brands we love. So far it been great, people seem to like what we have done with what is really too small a space to make a proper store in, but hey we sell stuff most days and meet customers who seem to like what we do and we are very happy with that. As it’s a small store it is a real personal experience shopping with us in the store, and hopefully people like it. We have great staff in the store and hope we can continue to be a part of the success of the real “local“ street in London.

What do you feel are the standout pieces of the Uni Works SS 13 collection? Don’t ask me that, I design this stuff; I like it all otherwise I would not make it! OK, if I have to choose I would go for our

Drill cotton windcheater, kind of classic James Dean look, great shape and simple style, or the Nylon Bike Jacket, a kind of modern summer anorak (can you tell I am a jacket kind of guy!) Or maybe one of our new sweatshirts, a loose knit ‘lofty” loopback fleece, a super comfortable piece, but then I think this spring is our best ever shirt collection too, I will be wanting a few of those!

If you could collaborate with any designer, who would it be and why? Is there anyone left that has not done endless colabs! I think I need to do one with Cadburys, we need some chocolate trousers in our lives! Just joking, colabs can be a great thing, I like it if we can work with someone on a product we don’t make ourselves, so we do colabs already on shoes and luggage, both of which I love, and I am working on some others right now, with LE FIX a street wear brand in Copenhagen on some great camo based pieces, and with Smedley the traditional and super quality knit brand in the UK, which are both great to work with As a keen runner I would love to work with someone on real performance wear for running or active sports in general. Or even just a new kit for our midweek six a side team!

As Uni Works is still a young company, who do you feel shares the same ethos as you? I think there a lot of newer smaller brands out there and people with a refreshing attitude to the product they are making, and we have good relationships with many of them, I think it would be wrong of me to single out brands and their own ethos, we just try to get along with everyone in the

industry, actually we love what we do and feel privileged to have the chance to do this and like other brands who do the same. But I am not going to mention them! Sorry!

Where do you see your brand going over the next few years and what are your plans for the near future? World domination with a massive revolution where everyone has enough spare cash from their well paid, fair trade jobs, lives in well designed stylish homes and buys great, simple design clothing from Universal Works, and lives in peace and harmony around the world... Or if not maybe I will try to grow the brand a little more so I don’t have to work 7 days a week, that’s the plan

right now, along with trying to improve our product each season, and explore better ways to do what we do. Oh and maybe we might open another store somewhere, a bit bigger this time!

Universal Works37 Lambs Conduit Street

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El Bandito

El Bandito is the second bar from the guys who brought you Santa Chupitos and most recently, Salt Dog Slims. This fantastic, cosy little bar is not your average cocktail bar. Nestled away in the basement of it’s older brother Santa Chupitos, El Bandito is a fantastic establishment with enough drinks to satisfy even the most well travelled cocktail drinkers. The bar has a strong ethos of bringing the world’s best tequilas direct to you in the form of shots, cocktails and beer, and is fast becoming one of the best bars in the city.

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How would you describe your work to someone who has never seen it before?There’s been a bunch of ways people have described my work. I like to think of it a bit like comic art, outside of a comic. I always wanted to be a comic artist, but quickly found I didn’t have the patience for drawing backdrops, or similar scenes in little boxes on a page. My favourite description of my work is ‘Slimed Pop-Art’.

At what age did you first get into drawing? What attracted you to doing

Stu Madden is a 23 year old illustrator who graduated from UCLAN last year with a degree in Illustration. Liverpool born and bred, Stu is an up and coming artist, whose work is not only causing a stir in the North West but also world wide. Here we bring you an exclusive interview, exploring

the details of Stu’s fantastic work.

Boneface

illustration?Sounds lame and cliched, but one of my earliest memories is of me drawing in nursery. I was being a little shit, keeping a bunch of building blocks to myself because I wanted to make a tower of all the same colour blocks (my OCD rearing its ugly head for the first time also, it seems). So I got shouted at, and stormed off in a huff then somehow ended up at a table with a pencil and a piece of paper. I think since then I’ve wanted to do this as a career.

What has been your biggest influence so far?Definately stuff from my childhood, without any of that that stuff, my work would be boring. I feel sorry for kids these days, cartoons, videogames, movies just aren’t what they used to be. I draw a lot influence from people I looked up to as a kid, mainly superheroes and various badasses. I try to use colour schemes from back then too, rather than the grey / brown mix that seems to dominate popular culture these days.

Where’s your work been used/shown recently?I had my first group show (since my degree show) last month in San Fransico. I was the featured artist in the exhibition, based around superheroes of various forms and shapes. I decided to depict some heroes who’d had the crap beaten out of them.

If you had to do a compilation piece with anyone who would it be and why?I’d love to do some sculpture or installation work at some point. I recently found a Filipino painter, called Louie Cordero, who does crazy awesome figure casting of people being impaled with various objects, with bright colours mixed with gore. It’s pretty amazing to look at.

www.boneface.co.uk/

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After hearing about the ‘Deep Internet’ a few years ago, I held a basic knowledge of what it entailed – drugs, firearms and other such illicit items being distributed in a controlled and rather sophisticated manner. A place where sellers are encouraged to advertise their products in a similar vein to that of vendors on Ebay: a few pictures, a quick description and a competitive yet fair price. However after reading up on it, I quickly became a bit skeptical, as it seemed more like an urban myth as it’s hard to imagine a place where every sort of illicit product is grouped under one website and buyers can peruse lists of items as they wish.

Whilst the idea of people using the internet to distribute illegal material is not a new one by any means, the idea of there being a place where the

infrastructure is so well thought out that you can purchase any item you desire without leaving your house and to have the added comfort of knowing your identity is not at risk is something of an unusual concept. The deep internet has turned the black market into a legitimate business model, based around customer satisfaction, a concept that is as interesting as it is scary. What’s even more worrying is how easy it is to access such sites. As someone who does not have a hugely impressive knowledge of computers and IT, I was able to access the deep internet in the space of five minutes. After downloading a small piece of software and looking at a few directories, I was instantly able to access sites advertising the sale of every controlled substance under the sun. These sites were followed by

The Deep WebEach year news outlets report of how the black market is growing in size and is becoming stronger by the minute, but what they fail to tell you is that the

black market is no longer an underground organisation ran by the stereotyped ‘gangster’ of the modern era. Instead, the black market has branched out into

the internet, and has now become an open forum and marketplace that is much akin to legitimate market places such as Ebay or Gumtree. Gone are the days of shady characters meeting down back alleys and doing their business in the

open. Nowadays, you can purchase illicit items in all shapes and sizes from the comfort of your own home. Think of it as a slightly more daring version of

Amazon.

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other webpages advertising all sorts of services including the chance to hire trained killers for a flat price, launder money through international loopholes, purchase stolen credit cards and bank details and even buy discounted versions of Rosetta Stone (an essential for the bilingual criminal). Whilst these sites are only the tip of the iceberg, it is, without use of a better phrase, amazing. The depth of thought that has gone into developing such a marketplace is nothing shy of brilliant, yet also terrifying in equal measure.

The most interesting part of the deep internet is the fact that it offers an insight into one of the most hotly debated topics of all time: the legalisation and regulation of illegal substances. If you strip the deep internet back from all of it’s rather negative, and frankly unjustifiable sins - the wholesale of firearms, explosives, credit card details and other such highly illegal activities, you end up with an insight into the ever-growing world drug market. With drug use growing every year in the UK, it is easy to see why places such as the deep internet exist. The current drug market in the UK has been valued at £17.6 Billion, a figure released by the Home Office in 2012 as a rough estimate for the value of the market in 2011. Whilst the majority of this market is still at street level, it is arguable that as time progresses the market will mature and move into a more online based community. Whilst I don’t want to advocate the use of illegal substances, it is very difficult to argue against people using them, as at the end of the day the use of illegal substances, for the majority of people, comes down to a person’s free will and choice to do so. If someone wants to take use a certain substance, regardless of the law they will always find a way to acquire their desired product. This idea is something

that was shown during prohibition in America, after the consumption and sale of alcohol became illegal the level of consumption did fall however it still remained at roughly around 70% of it’s original figure, with the number of grape growers in California increasing by up to 700%. Therefore it is obvious that despite the legal status of a substance, if people want to acquire an item they will still be able to do so, regardless of whether the law advocates it or not. Thus, to stop the expansion of substance production the only way to counteract it is to legalise it and regulate it under strict jurisdiction. As currently, the drug market is totally unregulated, thus meaning there is no quality control or regulation of the production or distribution of the drugs produced. Therefore the most glaringly obvious question is – if people want to use drugs, why not make it safe? Why not stop all the proceeds from the sale of illicit substances from going to those who do not want to help society progress in a positive and organic manner?

If we were to regulate drugs and tax them in a similar manner to that of alcohol and cigarettes the profit generated would be roughly around £13.5 Billion (that is if the price and use of illegal substances stayed at the same level). However, after the legalisation of drugs it is arguable that the price of such items would drop due to saturation in the market, however, if the market were regulated with strict legislation, the average price would stabilise in order to make sure the people designated by the Government to sell such items would receive a healthy profit, meaning more money in the Government’s pockets which would allow for the expansion of public spending.

For example, the average price of a gram of marijuana in the UK is around £10, with the production cost being roughly £1.20. That’s a profit margin of £8.80, and obviously with the unregulated nature of the UK’s drug market, this price is subject the fluctuation. However, with the profit margin standing at such a high level, it is fair to say that keeping the prices of illicit substances such as Marijuana at the same level would result in the product already being priced as a viable item for taxation. If a gram of marijuana was taxed in a similar manner to that of a pack of cigarettes (a tax of 77%), one gram of marijuana being sold at £10 would generate a total of £7.70 in tax, with the remaining £2.30 going to cover the £1.20 production cost and the vendor’s profit of £1.10. Thus, offering vendors the chance to increase price in order to develop a higher profit. However, if the sale of drugs was done through Government-ran outlets, it would mean the £1.10 profit would go towards worker’s wages and the running of such outlets.

What’s even more outstanding is the value of the market on a whole. Whilst the UK drug market in 2011 is worth an estimated £17.6 Billion, the tax that would be generated from the legalisation and regulation of marijuana alone, if the price did not fluctuate and the tax system mentioned previous was instated, would be roughly around £4.5 Billion. Whilst this is obviously a humongous figure, it is difficult to comprehend what this means in relation to the running of the country. So to put it into simple terms, the money generated from the taxation of marijuana alone would produce enough money to cover just under a quarter of the Government’s Industry and Agriculture Training Budget, a budget that currently stands at £19

Billion. Thus, with the current illegal drugs market valued at £17.6 Billion, taxing all substances with a 77% rate would generate £13.5 Billion, which is enough money to build around 25 new high-tech hospitals (similar to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham which treats around half a million people a year). This would mean the UK would have the capability to treat over 12.5 million extra people and would generate over 170,000 new public sector jobs.

So with this in mind, we still need to look at how the ‘Deep Internet’ comes into the equation. What the deep internet offers to users, is a safe way for customers to purchase their desired items completely free from the threat of violence, and with the apparent knowingness that what you purchase is of a certain quality. The majority of sites on the ‘Deep Internet’ use an anonymous currency called BitCoin, which is used to ensure the buyer and seller have the comfort of knowing their identity is not at risk. Certain sites even offer a full refund policy if the customer does not receive their item within a certain allotted time. This shows the way in which it is quite obvious that over the last 40 years or so, the drug industry has really developed into a legitimate business model. Gone are the days of a buyer giving a random person a certain amount of money for a certain product that they may or may not be satisfied with. Nowadays, customers can review vendors and their products and guide other users in their buying process. This shows that the need to legalise and regulate illegal substances has reached its pinnacle. As the rate of growth in the current market shows that ignoring the current situation could be hugely detrimental to society. The money being sent through the ‘Deep Internet’

is going through untaxed and to people who do not have the greater society’s best interests at heart. So in order to cut out the growth in organised crime the current governments around the world will need to rethink their policy on controlled substances and their regulation.

Ignoring the serious problems shown on the ‘Deep Internet’ could result in a further growth in the world’s black market, a problem that could entail huge problems for the world’s social order. Whilst the world’s police are very quick to focus on stopping the production and wholesale distribution of illegal substances, stopping such crimes will become more and more difficult as criminals become more allusive through the use of the internet and it’s black market.

Whilst regulating the sale of illegal

substances does have its downfalls, they are severely limited due to the nature of the strict jurisdiction that would be implied for such a market. If outlets were to regulate the amount of each substance a customer can buy there is always the possibility that the buyer will sell the substance on to someone else. However, if the amount that a customer can purchase is limited, the amount being re-sold will be accountable for. Thus meaning only a certain amount of each substance is available for the general public to access, something that despite their best efforts, Governments around the world have not been able to control.

So, it’s very easy to see how the sale of illegal substances has expanded, and its fair to say that ignoring its growth would be hugely detrimental to the world on a whole. As ignoring the ever-increasing trade, seen both online and

on the streets, will end up with criminals having more and more money in their back pockets and our Governments having to fork out even larger sums of money to try and offset their actions. So why not look at it with a new view and turn it all on it’s head?

Here is what a user of the Deep Internet had to say on the matter.

How did you first hear about the deep internet?

How many times have you used the deep internet to purchase illicit items?

What has your buying experience been like?

As a user, how have your views changed?

What do you see as the positives of the deep internet?

What about the negatives?

How do you view the open distribution of illicit drugs / weapons / content on the deep internet? Do you feel it is morally acceptable for people to purchase these items if they wish?

Do you feel this is a safer alternative to buying such items on the street?

Do you think this sort of market place

should be readily available?