Legal 'highs' available through the Internet-implications and solutions?
Prescription drugs are purchased via the Internet, but the consistent finding across many different populations is that the Internet appears to be a relatively minor source for illicit purchases of prescription medications by individual end users,1 the obvious exception being phosphodiesterase inhibitors for erectile dysfunction.2 In contrast, the world of escalating availability of illicit drugs via the Internet3–5 is paralleled by escalating availability of ‘legal highs’ via the Internet.6 These sites represent an important public health challenge, not least because of the ease of purchase but also because of the ‘relative anonymity’ for the purchaser.4

Dennehy et al. 6 evaluated 28 Internet sites selling 119 ‘legal highs’. Most sites were hosted in the USA (54%), and 47% of the products were deliberately likened to illicit drugs, such as cannabis (48%) or MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymetamphetamine, Ecstasy; 23%). The ‘most common ingredients …