Using the search engine Google, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center looked for "no prescription codeine." The results turned up 100 links, with the first 53 offering the opiate medication for home delivery.

Furthermore, 35 of the sites also sold barbituates, benzodiazepines, hallucinogens, and other prescription stimulants.

"This is unprecedented access to opiates, and it is relatively undocumented," said Robert F. Forman, PhD, assistant professor of psychology in the Department of Psychiatry and principal author of the study.

Forman and his Penn colleague, Ovgu Kaynack, BA, also found that only a payment method and shipping address were necessary to purchase the drugs.

"These websites present a significant risk to public health. The uncontrolled access to prescription drugs can lead to an increase in addiction and overdose deaths, and yet children preparing a report for school may inadvertently stumble upon a portal that leads them to illegal drugs," Forman said. "There is evidence that prescription drug use among young people is increasing. We need to discern whether law-enforcement officials in the United States can work effectively against drug sites that operate out of other countries, some of which permit the sale of opiates."

The study is published in the Aug. 20 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Forman, R. (2003) Availability of Opioids on the Internet. Journal of the American Medical Association, 290(7): 889.

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