It is a piece of cake to purchase highly addictive drugs. A few clicks online are enough to buy the dangerous Ritalin, for example, after which you can wait – without a doctor’s prescription – until it lands on your doorstep.
1. What can be ordered illegally?
Literally everything. The consumer program Kassa, which conducted a random sample of five web shops, successfully ordered the tranquilizer oxazepam and the ADHD medication Ritalin (methylphenidate). Both drugs are normally only available with a doctor’s prescription. They are addictive and can lead to serious side effects.
2. What are these shops on the internet?
That remains difficult to determine. Of course, there is no business premises that are referred to, and the people behind them almost always remain anonymous. They are mainly active online and use numerous, sometimes imaginative, names that refer directly to the drug, but sometimes also use the word ‘pharmacy’ to gain trust, or its English translation.
You really don’t have to go to the dark web for it, it can be ordered on numerous platforms. At least, it is widely offered. A look at Telegram shows that there is a lot for sale. With a simple click of the mouse, in addition to Ritalin, diazepam, Bensedin – a type of Valium, similar to diazepam – Dormicum (sedative medicine), Zolpidem (sleeping aid) and Rivotril (sleeping aid) could be obtained. It is only a small selection of the range, and it is not guaranteed that if you order, you will actually receive it. There is always the possibility of fraud.
3. But often it works?
Certainly, the researchers successfully ordered oxazepam (a tranquilizer) and the ADHD medication Ritalin (methylphenidate, a psychostimulant) in two web shops. These drugs are normally only available to people who have been prescribed them by a doctor.
Ritalin, for example, can lead to sleep problems and can also lead to psychological complaints. Users of oxazepam may experience hallucinations and anxiety, especially if they decide to stop taking it. That makes it addictive. Party drugs also turned out to be very easy to order. For example, a drug such as ‘4F-Methylphenidate’ is a synthetic variant of Ritalin.
4. Have the risks been investigated?
Of course. Research conducted by the Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS) of Utrecht University, commissioned by Kassa, shows that users should just hope that, regardless of the fact that it is not recommended to take it without a doctor’s prescription, the product is actually what they expect. thinking about ordering. Sometimes medicines are mixed, and there is also a risk that a completely different medicine is supplied, whether or not compiled in an amateurish manner.
5. How does the ministry respond to it?
The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport calls the development ‘very worrying’. According to the ministry, it underlines the importance of urgent additional legislation. The question is whether that will work, because there is cross-border trade and not all mail can be checked. Moreover, it appears that several variants, which are very similar to medicines that should be banned, will fall outside the new legislation. So there is still a lot of work to be done.
2023-12-03 18:20:00
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