The Net — drug pusher’s paradise
p2pnet news view | Off Topic:- Some of America’s most commonly abused and misused prescription drugs, which are carefully controlled offline, are easy to find online, says the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA).
And the problem is, “morphing into different outlets for controlled prescription drug trafficking like Internet script mills and membership sites that sell lists of online pharmacies, and different payment methods like eChecks, COD and money orders,” says Joseph A. Califano, Jr, CASA chairman and president.
“Despite a decline in the number of Web sites advertising or selling controlled prescription drugs, like OxyContin and Valium, Xanax and Vicodin, and Ritalin and Adderall, in the past year, 85 percent of Web sites selling such drugs do not require a prescription,” states ‘You’ve Got Drugs! V: Prescription Drug Pushers on the Internet.
The report cites an emerging practice of internet sites, “selling prescriptions for controlled drugs that can be filled at local pharmacies,” says the study, going on it also found sites selling online “medical consultations” which, “enable Internet users to get controlled drugs online without a proper prescription”.
‘You’ve Got Drugs! V identified 365 sites advertising or selling controlled prescription drugs were identified in the first quarter of 2008, compared to 581 sites during the same period in 2007.
“Only two of the 365 sites were certified by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy as Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice SitesTM, the same number found certified in 2007,” it states.
The decline, “may reflect efforts of federal and state agencies and financial institutions to crack down on Internet drug trafficking,” says the study, but nonetheless, “anyone of any age can obtain dangerous and addictive prescription drugs with the click of a mouse,” according to Califano, a former US secretary of health, education, and welfare.
“This problem is not going away,” he declares.
Of sites not requiring prescriptions, 42% explicitly stated no prescription was needed, 45% offered an ‘online consultation,’ and 13% made no mention of a prescription, says the study, which also found >>>
- Of the few sites that require prescriptions, half permit the prescription to be faxed, allowing significant opportunity for fraud.
- Benzodiazepines (like Xanax and Valium) continue to be the most frequently offered drugs for sale with 90% of sites selling them; followed by opioids (like Vicodin and OxyContin) at 57% of sites, and stimulants (like Ritalin and Adderall) at 27% of sites.
- According to DEA estimates, in 2007 11% of prescriptions filled by traditional pharmacies were for controlled substances compared to 80% of prescriptions filled by Internet pharmacies.
- There are no controls blocking access to these sites by children and teens.
The CASA report includes recommendations that search engines block all advertisements for controlled prescription drugs that don’t come from licensed and certified online pharmacies; and, the US negotiates treaties with foreign governments, “to help shut down Internet trafficking of controlled prescription drugs”.
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CASA – “You’ve Got Drugs!” V, July 9, 2008
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July 11th, 2008 at 8:03 am
War on drugs is futile, and war on prescription drugs is futile too.