Today more people are ordering narcotics on the Internet. Many online pharmaceutical sites are legal, meaning they require a signed prescription from a physician and proof of a legitimate medical problem.

But a growing number are not.

Type in prescription drugs and hundreds of websites pop up. Many sell controlled substances such as Xanax, Valium and Hydrocodone without prescriptions.

"As a counselor, I think it's pure foolishness," said Jack Dowd, drug counselor at Hina Mauka.

In 2007, a Columbia University report counted 187 Web sites actively selling pain killers like oxycontin online. Eighty-four percent did not require a prescription and none of the sites asked if the buyer was a child.

"Bascially some of these websites only require that you click on a little icon that says you are over 18 and that you have a mailing address. That's the only requirement to send you these drugs," Dowd said.

That worries Dowd, who said more and more of his patients are internet drug shopping.

"It's definitely increased, it's definitely increased. I'd say you know, in just the last 5 years it went from being something you rarely heard to something fairly often now," Dowd said.

One recovering addict who did not want to go on camera told me she started off doctor shopping. Getting prescriptions filled by 3 different physicians. When that wasn't enough, she went online. Ordering narcotics from 3 Web sites. By then, she was taking 60 pills a day.

"When people think of pharmaceutical drugs. They think oh, it's just medicine. These drugs are as powerful or more powerful that illicit drugs. We have drugs that are 10 times stronger than heroin. The number one abused drug right now is vicodin, hydrocloride," said Keith Kamita, administrator of the state Narcotics Enforcement Division.

And many taking it are children. A recent survey found that vicodin, a narcotic pain killer, is the most commonly abused drugs by adolescents in 8 to 12th grade.

"They are more opt to try a pill than to shoot up heroin, but a pill can be just as deadly," Kamita said.

Kamita said to sell narcotics to Hawaii residents, online pharmacies must be registered with the state. Those that aren't are selling drugs here illegally.

"We tell them that if you are shipping drugs to Hawaii and you are not registered with us and the board of pharmacy, then you are basically promoting in hawaii and we are going to treat you like a drug dealer," Kamita said.

As a result of the state's crackdown, some sites have stopped shipping drugs to Hawaii. Right now, Congress is considering a law to regulate these so-called 'rogue sites', which some call street corner drug dealers of the information age.

Jack Dowd said passing it is vital.

"I can't buy alcohol without being 18 and showing proof of it and getting cigarettes but yet I can get opiates, without any of that. I find that difficult to understand why that's okay," Dowd said.

So how do you know if a website is legitimate? You should look for a seal that says V-I-P-P-S. That means it is certified by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy.

Make sure they are registered with the state by calling the Narcotics Enforcement Division at 837-8470.

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