Online Pharmacies Increasing in Popularity
Despite the concerted efforts of local police to fight opiate drug trafficking through online pharmacies, the illegal virtual entities grow in number every day and so is the number of their customers. Those who are addicted to prescription painkillers often feel that they “need” more than what their prescription provides. Easier than finding another doctor to supplement the prescription or a street dealer with the right wares is finding an online pharmacy that offer what you want and however much you want delivered right to your door.
Though some prescriptions filled by online pharmacies are for non-narcotic medications like high blood pressure medicine, about 95 percent of sales are for opioid-based prescription drugs, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Only 11 percent of prescriptions from brick and mortar pharmacies, on the other hand, are for opiates. The 34 “rogue” pharmacies studied by the DEA were found to prescribe about 98.5 million dosage units of hydrocodone alone, which amounts to a one-month supply for some 400,000+ patients.
How Online Pharmacies Work
Usually, the “rogue” pharmacy works like an agent of sorts, procuring illegal opiates for those who request them. They usually ask retired physicians who need to make a little extra cash to write the prescriptions they need. The pharmacy then approaches a small brick and mortar pharmacy, preferably one that is struggling to make ends meet, and persuades them to fill the prescription for a high fee. Because these rogue pharmacies don’t require a doctor-patient relationship or state certification, there’s no guarantee that the drugs ordered are the ones received. Many overdose by unintentionally mixing the wrong drugs or taking a certain dosage thinking that they are taking one drug when it’s actually something else entirely.
Legislating Online Pharmacies
There are legal online pharmacies and Congress is working to pass legislation that will make the difference more obvious. Right now, there is a voluntary verification process available. Congress would also like to clarify the legislation on punishments for online pharmacies who dispense opiate drugs and increase the penalties for those who sell to minors.
While we wait for Congress to figure out a way to control rogue online pharmacies that constantly change website addresses, I have another idea. For those who would use these online pharmacies, why not save your cash and invest it more wisely in a finite Suboxone treatment? Both legal and readily available to those who need to treat opiate addiction without attending a drug rehab program, Suboxone pays for itself one hundred times over. Not only do you know what you’re getting, but you take less and less of it until you no longer need it at all. Legal pharmacies fill the prescription and you can break the addiction before it breaks your bank or your health.
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