I'm assuming by “research chemical” you mean "counterfeit chemical" - Quite a signal for society, of individuals willing to inject themselves with these due to lack of funds or lack of effort.
That analogy would hold if a counterfeit dollar were perfectly identical to a real dollar, totally indistinguishable, and nobody could possibly tell the difference. Most of the "research chemical" drugs out there are chemically identical to the marked-up pharmaceutical products. Not similar, identical.
When you are buying chemicals from unknown entities you are adopting the enormous risks that come with it.
Drug synthesis can get very complicated. Purity of the drug is unknown.
Which contaminants are present and what are their effects on your body? Unknown.
What if any recourse do you have if they poison you? Minimal to none.
Even if you have a trusted third party doing efficacious testing of the compounds, the consistency of manufacture will be unknown unless they also do inspections. While I have no doubt that you can have private entity do a far better job than the FDA if the incentives are right there will be no business there. Perhaps a charity could work? I have no idea how though.
Without coming from the manufacturer or being validated by an independent, trusted third party, you do not know that the chemical composition is what is purported.
I would say that it seems the vast majority of buyers on social media are convinced the drugs are coming from Eli Lilly & are being bought through "research" loopholes.
