NCJ Number
215715
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 33 Issue: 8 Dated: August 2006 Pages: 72,74,81
Date Published
August 2006
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This first part of a two-part article assesses the problem of illegal Internet sales of prescription drugs and suggests how law enforcement agencies can improve their response to this problem.
Abstract
Rogue online pharmacies enable an increasing number of drug addicts to buy prescription medications that range from pain pills and analgesics to stimulants, all without a prescription. Arrests associated with these illegal sales have not kept pace with the expanding supply and demand for addictive prescription drugs. The first step for law enforcement agencies in dealing with this problem is to become familiar with its nature and scope. Officers should be trained to look for signs of online drug sales in routine calls. Suspicious signs are drug labels that show an out-of-State pharmacy, a user name on the drug label that does not match that of the person possessing the drug, and the presence of unbottled pills/capsules. Computer hard drives seized as evidence may also contain information on online drug sales. Other suspicious signs are the absence of a pharmacy address or a prescribing doctor, one doctor writing all the prescriptions for a pharmacy, and a pharmacy that dispenses medications over a wide geographic area. The article advises that law enforcement agencies should designate at least one detective to work online drug cases. It also outlines steps for creating a Web unit in the department, describing the equipment and training required for such a unit. Officers who work these cases must be familiar with computers, Internet service providers, pharmacology, and commonly diverted prescription medications. The second part of the article will examine how Federal, State, and local authorities can share intelligence and cooperate to catch online drug suppliers.