Allison Johnson buys Samsung’s Galaxy Z TriFold on eBay for $4,399 after stockouts, but the unit arrives with tamper seals and a SIM/setup prompt, raising concerns of a compromised device and suggesting Samsung isn’t truly distributing TriFolds—making gray-market purchases a risky gamble.
The slow rollout of legal weed in the Tri-State area has led to the proliferation of "gray" market cannabis shops, with an estimated 1,400 illicit businesses in New York City alone. While state officials are trying to right the wrongs of the "War on Drugs" with social equity components in their recreational marijuana programs, anti-marijuana activists are trying to slow the fast pace of legal cannabis adoption. The national cannabis market is estimated to reach $71 billion in sales by 2030, with the New York state market alone potentially making up 10% of that.
Transgender patients in the US are turning to unregulated foreign drug websites to access hormone therapy amid fears of bans in Republican states. The online marketplace, known as the gray market, is comprised of unregulated suppliers who sell legitimate medications, sometimes name-brand, outside the distribution channels authorized by the manufacturers. Doctors warn that self-administering hormones is "extraordinarily dangerous" because they can increase the risk of life-threatening blood clots, and there are no guarantees the drugs are legitimate. Missouri has issued a first-of-its-kind emergency rule that said adults must have had gender dysphoria for three years and received at least 18 months of therapy before receiving the drugs.