Goods sold by illegal Internet pharmacies are either illegally manufactured or diverted from the licit distribution chain, and the pharmacies do not check the prescription or else provide one without questions, according to the experts gathered by the International Narcotics Control Board this week in Vienna.
The INCB is the independent and quasi-judicial control organ for the implementation of UN drug conventions. Its 13 members serve in their personal capacity, but they are elected by the UN Economic and Social Council and their work is financed by the UN.
The experts found that the illicit sale through the Internet relied on sophisticated networks which work together closely, such as owners of illegal Internet pharmacy Web sites and the suppliers of illicitly traded goods. They called for the creation of an international network of national agencies working together to counteract global and cross-border activities of illegal internet pharmacies.
In many countries, almost everybody has access to the Internet and is using it and this makes everybody a potential customer and a potential victim of illegal Internet pharmacies, they warned. As the pharmacies will not verify information on name and age, vulnerable groups such as children and adolescents, as well as those involved in drug trafficking such as drug addicts and dealers, can obtain whatever they want with more ease than in the conventional illicit street market.
