85% of Online Pharmacies Don't Require a Prescription, Survey Reveals

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85% of Online Pharmacies Don't Require a Prescription, Survey Reveals

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jul 10th 2008 at 12:02PM

Prescription Drugs Easy to Find, Cheap to Buy Online

The Internet is a virtual cornucopia of cheaply-purchased controlled substances. Don't believe us? Just swing by your local college campus and start asking a few questions. According to a recent survey of 365 Internet pharmacies, 85 percent filled orders for prescription drugs (a majority of which were for controlled substances) without requiring a prescription. Many of the sites even flaunt this fact, clearly stating that no prescription was required, a clear violation of U.S. law.

The sites are often hard to track because they only stay up for short periods of time before moving and opening up under a new name at a new address.

These illegal pharmacies are of particular concern since the rate of abuse of prescription drugs has skyrocketed over the past few years. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 48 million Americans over the age of twelve have abused prescription drugs at some point in their lives. [Source: Reuters]

Filed under: Computers

Tags: crime, drugs, health, internet, medicine, online pharmacies, OnlinePharmacies, prescription, prescription drugs, PrescriptionDrugs, shopping

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