The customers should take proper steps in determining whether an online pharmacy is legitimate or not. Buying a drug from an illegal/ unethical pharmacy exposes the patient to the risk of receiving contaminated or counterfeit drugs. Unsafe or wrong medicines can lead to drug interactions that can cause serious health complexities. Furthermore such unethical pharmacies fall way short in maintaining good service standards. Thus, buying a medicine from such a drugstore puts the patient at a greater risk in terms of security, confidentiality, price and the quality of the drugs being delivered. On the other hand good and legitimate online pharmacies not only provide necessary feedback and suggestions on possible drug interactions resulting due to the intake of a prescribed drug but also are governed by strict policies to maintain superior service standards. In order to determine the legitimacy of a pharmacy, patients should find out whether the Internet pharmacy is licensed or has been certified by a verification authority. Licensed pharmacies usually provide a direct link to their licensing/ verification authority. Patients should ideally place an order only after verifying this status.

Apart from the above, patients should make sure whether the online pharmacy provides a valid physical address and proper contact details to answer customer queries. Good pharmacies believe in maintaining strong pre and post sales relations with their customers, therefore they always provide a valid contact number to welcome customer queries. Online pharmacies processing orders without a valid prescription or indulging in the practice of generating fake prescriptions should be avoided.

A handful of unethical online drugstores often resort to tempting marketing strategies by announcing a “magical cure”, a “sudden breakthrough” or a “quick recovery” from a serious health disorder. In all probability, these pharmacies are either misrepresenting facts or are cooking up stories to attract more customers to their pharmacies. These so-called “quick-recovery”/ “quick-relief” drugs can pose serious health complexities if consumed without prior consultation of a registered medical practitioner. Avoid those sites that try to market themselves by finding out faults among their competitors or make tall claims without any relevant grounds to support them.

Last but not the least, when in doubt, always consult the doctor firs

Another problem is that if you can find a pharmacy that will sell you schedule III drugs, US Customs is well aware of the names of these companies and will seize packages sent from them. They also may send the police to your door, which really sucks and is never good!

The only legitimate pharmacy I know of is drugstore.com, but they do require a handwritten prescription/fax from a licensed US physician.

The only thing you can find these days that may actually get to you are things like tramadol, phentermine, and other similar drugs. No Vicodin, Morphine, or even Tylenol 3. If you live close to the Canadian border, you can buy Tylenol 1 or 2 over the counter. If you live close to Mexico, you can buy Demerol and other strong opioids OTC, and legally carry a 90 day supply across the border.

Feel free to search for what you want, but buyer beware. Look on Rip-Off Reports if you don't believe me – you'll see thousands of people who got completely screwed by online pain pharmacies. Good luck.