Script-only pill users hit the Dark Web
DARK Web retailers have seen a surge in codeine tablet sales in the wake of the ban on over-the-counter codeine products in Australia.
A News Corporation investigation can reveal codeine pills were among the most sold drug on the Silk Road 3.1 website yesterday with figures rivalling that of cocaine and heroin vendors.
Pharmacists say forcing consumers to get a prescription from a doctor to buy codeine would push mums and dads into Dark Web markets and put them at risk of sub-quality products.
“We have tarred everyday Australians who use these products with the lowest possible brush,” Sydney pharmacist Feras Karem said.
“It is a very small portion of the market who buys codeine due to addiction and those are the people who will go to any lengths regardless of regulation the TGA implements.”
The Pharmaceutical Guild is lobbying to get the new regulations removed.
The regulations came into effect yesterday preventing customers buying codeine pills without a prescription.
A Dark Web vendor was yesterday selling 30 packs of 20mg codeine pills from Germany for $29.
The vendor processed thousands of orders and earnt a rare “highly sold” badge.
There were also dozens of vendors selling bottles of codeine cough syrup for thousands of dollars.
While the TGA warns consumers not to buy banned drugs online, it failed to explain yesterday how it polices online sales. The health products watchdog said codeine offered “very little additional benefit” while being highly addictive.
“Codeine can cause opioid tolerance, dependence, addiction, poisoning and in high doses, even death,” a TGA spokesman said.
Monash University medical professor Dr Ken Harvey said while he agreed with moves to limit codeine use he was concerned about consumers buying untested products online.
“There is a risk buying products from overseas and using the internet,” he said.
A spokesman for Health Minister Greg Hunt said evidence of the “illegal trade of codeine highlights why action needed to be taken”.