From Information Superhighway to Mean Streets

Report finds anyone can obtain dangerous and addictive prescription drugs with the click of a mouse.

DANIEL S. LEVINE

If nothing else, the Internet is convenient. Whether it’s buying a book, booking a flight, or apparently scoring some OxyContin.

A new report from The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University reports that while the number of websites advertising or selling controlled prescription drugs in the past year dropped, 85 percent of websites selling drugs do not require a prescription.

The report "You've Got Drugs!" V: Prescription Drug Pushers on the Internet, is the fifth annual white paper on the subject from the center. It found a total of 365 Web sites advertising or selling controlled prescription drugs 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 Sites, the same number found certified in 2007.

The center speculated that the decline in the number of sites selling or advertising controlled prescription drugs may reflect efforts of federal and state agencies and financial institutions to crack down on Internet drug trafficking. But the decline offered little solace to the group.

“Anyone of any age can obtain dangerous and addictive prescription drugs with the click of a mouse,” said Joseph Califano, Jr., the center’s chairman and president. “This problem is not going away.”

The report identified an emerging practice of Internet sites selling prescriptions for controlled drugs that can be filled at local pharmacies. The report also found sites selling online medical consultations, which enable Internet users to get controlled drugs online without a proper prescription.

Of those sites not requiring prescriptions, 42 percent explicitly stated that no prescription was needed, 45 percent offered an online consultation, and 13 percent made no mention of a prescription. Of the few sites that require prescriptions, the center said half permit the prescription to be faxed, which allows significant opportunity for fraud because it could be faxed to multiple sites.

Benzodiazepines (like Xanax and Valium) continue to be the most frequently offered drugs for sale with 90 percent of sites selling them. That was followed by opioids (like Vicodin and OxyContin), which were available at 57 percent of sites, and stimulants (like Ritalin and Adderall) , which were sold at 27 percent of sites.

According to Drug Enforcement Agency estimates, in 2007 11 percent of prescriptions filled by traditional pharmacies were for controlled substances compared to 80 percent of prescriptions filled by Internet pharmacies.

In April, the U.S. Senate passed The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008 to control Internet trafficking of controlled prescription drugs. The legislation would prohibit delivery, distribution or dispensing of controlled substances over the Internet without a prescription issued by a practitioner who has conducted at least one in-person medical evaluation, and to require federal certification of online pharmacies.

The center is urging the House to follow suit. The Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security of the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the topic last month.

We’ve seen what the Internet has done to independent booksellers, travel agents and newspapers. Are neighborhood drug dealers next?