New research into the selling of drugs online has found that, while the
number of sites offering drugs has declined for the first time since 2004,
overall availability is still too high.
Researchers at Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse (Casa) found 365 sites this year selling drugs to consumers,
compared to 581 over the same period last year.
"This decline in the number of sites advertising or selling controlled
prescription drugs may reflect efforts of federal and state agencies and
financial institutions to crack down on internet drug trafficking," said Joseph
A Califano Jr, president of Casa, and former US Secretary of Health, Education,
and Welfare.
"Nevertheless, in spite of those efforts, anyone of any age can obtain
dangerous and addictive prescription drugs with the click of a mouse.
"This problem is not going away. It 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, cash-on-delivery and money orders."
The study found that 90 per cent of sites sold benzodiazepines like Xanax and
Valium, 57 per cent sold opioids like Vicodin and OxyContin, and 27 per cent
sold stimulants like Ritalin and Adderall.
Overall 85 per cent of sites did not demand a prescription for the drugs, and
half of those that did only required the prescription to be faxed, which makes
forgery easier.
Most of the drug sites were located outside the US, although almost a quarter
are registered in the country. Worryingly, the geographical location of over a
third of the sites proved impossible to determine.
The group called for mandatory prescriptions and regulation and certification
of internet drug sites, and said that search engines should block all
unregistered sites.
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