Newport Academy

For years, parents feared that their children would encounter a predatory drug dealer on the schoolyard or at the corner on the way home.   But heading into the year 2009, the biggest concern may be the threat coming from the family PC.    Online pharmacies are selling prescription drugs to teens in growing numbers – and the process of obtaining these medications is easier than most parents could ever imagine.

Think it is hard for a minor to get powerful drugs such as Vicodin or OxyContin online?  Consider that the process usually goes something like this:

1. Kids find a website offering prescription medications online
2. They fill out an order form and “medical questionnaire” that asks them why the need the medication.
3. They provide their parents credit card number (NOTE:  parents who do not pay close attention to their itemized credit card statements can be easily duped since most online pharmacies use code names as their vendor information).
4. A “doctor” or “pharmacist” calls and ask a series of questions about why the medicine is required.
5. The medication is shipped to the home or another specified address.

And as hard to believe as it may be, that’s it. There is little or no verification of the individual’s medical condition or age.  In some cases, the online pharmacy may go through the motions of asking for a doctor’s authorization, but these can be easily forged and there is no “quality control” at the fulfillment level.

What can be done to curtail this situation?  Parents need to take a pro-active approach to the problem of online pharmacies.  Some of the most effective steps to take are also the simplest:

1. Lock up all unused prescription medication in the home
2. Check credit card bills with regularity
3. Monitor your child’s Internet usage
4. Talk to your kids about the potential dangers of prescription medication – and why just because something is in pill form, that doesn’t make it safe!

Until parents stand together against these dangers, and governments move in faster to curb the problem at a federal level, expect the sale of prescription drugs to teens over the Internet to continue to grow.

Tags: Prescription Drugs

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 at 6:39 pm and is filed under Internet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.