“You’ve Got Drugs!” IV: Prescription Drug Pushers on the Internet, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA), May 2007

In 2004 CASA published the first report on drugs and the internet, “You’ve Got Drugs!”: Prescription Pushers on the Internet, documenting the widespread advertising and sale of controlled prescription drugs on line without a prescription.  These reports clearly show that the internet is and continues to be a viable source for the sale and purchase of controlled prescription drugs.  The internet provides easy accessibility to drugs like OxyContin, Vicodin, Valium, and Ritalin to our youth.

The survey found that sites advertising controlled substances increased by 135 percent, from 168 in 2006 to 394 in 2007.  Sites selling these drugs increased by seven percent, from 174 in 2006 to 187 in 2007.  Of these 187 sites, only two were certified by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy as Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites™.
The survey also found that:

• 84 percent of sites selling these drugs did not require a prescription;
• Of the 16 percent who claimed to require a prescription, most (57 percent) simply ask that it be faxed, allowing customers to use the same prescription many times;
• Over the past four years, the number of sites selling controlled prescriptions increased from 154 in 2004 to 187 in 2007;
• Benzodiazepines (Xanax and Valium) continue to be the most frequently offered controlled prescription drug, sold on 79 percent of the sites, followed by opiods (Vicodin and OxyContin) on 64 percent of the sites.
• There are no controls stopping the sale of these drugs to children.

The full report can be found at http://casacolumbia.org