In The News This Week … Feb. 27 – Mar. 5, 2005: Illicit Drugs on the Internet

Everyone is familiar with the annoying spam emails offering to fill your prescription, allow you to skip doctor visits, cure pain, improve "performance," and enhance body parts that you may or may not have. In fact, according to reports from 2004, some 19 million Americans have purchased prescription drugs online.

But what about when there isn't a prescription?

According to the 2004 Annual Report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), released March 2, 2005, several billion doses of medicine are sold illegally on the internet each year. As an example, in Asia and Europe, about 90% of sales by internet pharmacies are done without prescriptions.

What's more, in their press release, the INCB states: "Illicit Internet sales include substances with a high potential of abuse, such as certain opiods (e.g., oxycodone), stimulants (amphetamines) and benzodiazepines (e.g., alprazolam and diazepam) as well as substances with possible fatal health risks when consumed without adequate medical supervision, such as fentanyl and secobarbital." Indeed, US authorities have found that, unlike regular pharmacies, the vast majority (sometimes more than 95%) of internet pharmacies' sales involved internationally controlled narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

Other concerns expressed in the report include that there are no international standards for internet pharmacies, that drugs sold online may be counterfeit or of questionable quality, and that "the lack of age restrictions with regard to potential customers for these drugs could become a major source for abused prescription medications among children and adolescents. This is already the case in certain countries such as the United States."

The INCB report also notes that "(t)he majority of prescription drugs abused in the [USA] are diverted from the licit market and obtained through Internet pharmacies."

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