Statement Of Sen. Patrick Leahy,
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee,
Hearing On "Rogue Online Pharmacies:
The Growing Problem Of Internet Drug Trafficking"
May 16, 2007

Today, the Committee holds an important hearing on the growing problem of rogue online pharmacies that illegally traffic in highly addictive painkillers and other controlled substances. 

In many ways, the Internet has made our lives better and I have been one of its biggest proponents for those reasons.  It removes the historic constraints from geography and provides access to information and knowledge that might otherwise remain unavailable to those of us from rural areas.  Distance learning, access to medical knowledge at the finest hospitals and increased commercial competition are all aspects of the Internet that are important to recognize and promote.  Vermont businesses sell Vermont products throughout the Nation and around the world through the Internet.  At the same time, the Internet has enabled Vermonters, and others, better access to convenient and more affordable medicine.

But the online sale of pharmaceuticals presents a more complicated and problematic aspect.  Rogue online pharmacies increasingly have become a source for the illegal supply of controlled substances.  Dangerous and addictive prescription drugs are too often only a click away without the proper constraints of local doctors and pharmacists. 

Controlled drugs, such as pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants, and sedatives, can too easily be bought illegally over the Internet.  Anyone – including children – can readily obtain dangerous controlled substances from online pharmacies.  All they need is access to a computer and a credit card.  The check and security provided by our local pharmacists in local pharmacies -- those who have served Americans for generations and helped us get well and keep us well -- is not always replicated online.

The 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health indicates that almost 6 million people currently misuse prescription drugs and, of them, more than two-thirds -- 4.4 million people -- abuse pain relievers such as OxyContin.  Some celebrities have been involved in high profile cases, but people in every state and increasingly from every age group and demographic are affected.  When abused, these drugs have enormous potential to cause harm, illness, addiction, and, as we will hear this morning from one of our witnesses, tragically even death.

American teenagers are particularly vulnerable to Internet drug trafficking.  Among young people, prescription drugs have become the second most abused illegal drug, behind marijuana.  In fact, if you exclude marijuana, more adults and teens report abusing prescription drugs than all other illicit drugs combined. 

Too many American teenagers mistakenly believe that abusing addictive narcotics is a safe way to get “high”. 

As we learned just last week, some drug companies have themselves contributed to that dangerous impression by giving consumers misleading information about the addictive qualities of these drugs.  Purdue Pharmacies, the maker of the powerful painkiller OxyContin, and three of its corporate executives, pleaded guilty to intentionally misleading the public when it promoted OxyContin as less addictive than traditional narcotics.  It is a sad day when pharmaceutical companies act like tobacco companies and mislead the public rather than alerting the public to the risks associated with use of its products.     

We have legislation referred to this Committee that would create potent new tools for law enforcement to prosecute those who illegally sell drugs online, and allow state authorities to shut down online pharmacies even before they get started.  I look forward to working with the Senators from California and Alabama on these matters.   

As the longtime co-chair of the Congressional Internet Caucus, I will ask the Caucus to consider the issue of the growing danger that online pharmacies pose to youth. 

Internet drug trafficking has presented another challenge for law enforcement.  If drug dealers came into our neighborhoods selling these kinds of drugs, Americans would be up in arms.   

I thank our distinguished panel of witnesses for appearing here today and Senator Specter our ranking member for his work in connection with this hearing.  

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