According to the study by Columbia University researchers, the drugs offered online without prescription include controlled prescription drugs, like OxyContin and Valium, Xanax and Vicodin, and Ritalin and Adderall.
The report, released Wednesday by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, indicates how easily those narcotics and stimulants can be purchased online.
“Abuse of prescription drugs has exploded among college students, and we think that one way they get these drugs is over the Internet,” said Joseph A. Califano Jr., director of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.
The report, titled "'You've Got Drugs!' V: Prescription Drug Pushers on the Internet," found a total of 365 Web sites offering controlled drugs by mail, and only two of these sites were certified by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy as Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites.
Of the 365 sites, 206 were advertising sites, directing customers to a seller. In addition, 135 or 85% of the 159 sites that directly sold controlled prescription drugs did not require a doctor's prescription. These sites simply provided their customers the aforesaid narcotics on the basis of online questionnaires.
The new White Paper, the fifth annual White Paper on this subject, highlights that the number of online establishments selling the controlled drugs fell 37 percent from last year. The CASA researchers said a total of 581 sites were advertising or selling controlled prescription drugs in 2007. The fall can be attributed to the federal and state efforts to crack down on online drug trafficking.
"This decline in the number of Web 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. Nevertheless, in spite of those efforts, anyone of any age can obtain dangerous and addictive prescription drugs with the click of a mouse," said Califano.
"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, COD and money orders," he added.
According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, of those sites not requiring prescriptions, 42% explicitly stated that no prescription was required, 45% offered an "online consultation," and 13% made no mention of a prescription.
Prompted by the findings, CASA urge Internet search engines to block advertisements for controlled prescription drugs that do not come from licensed and certified pharmacies.
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