Drug users "can obtain whatever they want (online) with more ease than in the conventional illicit street market," according to International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). That includes everything from bongs and seeds to growing instructions to marijuana itself.

The INCB and the European Union urged governments to crack down on online drug sales, but experts say that's easier said than done. Officials from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) estimate that there are up to 400 varieties of marijuana seeds alone for sale on the Internet. "Despite the federal government's efforts [in the U.S.], seeds pour in," NORMAL chief Alan St. Pierre said, adding that the small size and lack of odor make the seeds hard to detect in the mail. "It's very unlikely that they will be intercepted," he said.

A spokesperson for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) said that many parents don't realize how available the drug and related items are online. "Even parents who do realize that marijuana is a serious problem still think ... their teens are going to be exposed to marijuana from a shady character in the street -- not on the computer, possibly sitting a few feet away from them," said ONDCP's Tom Riley. "It's a serious problem that this is on the Internet."

Although the DEA and the U.S. Postal Service seized 8 tons of drugs sent in the mail and arrested 1,724 people suspected of sending drugs in the mail, DEA spokesperson Rusty Payne acknowledged the difficulty of preventing drug sales on the Internet. "Because of the magnitude and growth of the Internet, this is something that's difficult for the DEA to enforce," he said.

Part of the problem is that sites selling marijuana and other drugs are often located in nations like the Netherlands, which have more liberal drug laws than the U.S. One Canadian marijuana activist claims to have sold 4 million marijuana seeds through his website.

"We can't go into Mexico and arrest somebody," said the DEA spokesperson. "Again, it's really difficult to enforce."

"People who sell drugs are obviously violating the law and obviously engage in this activity because they think they can get away with it," said Robert DeMuro, a spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Investigations Service. "Can they for a while? Yes. Can they forever? No."

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