Parents Beware!
Drugs on the Internet

How Parents Can Protect Kids from Drugs on the Internet

The Internet offers an amazing world of information about almost everything. But the quality of that information varies widely, particularly when the subject is drugs of abuse. Here issues of legality vs. illegality, public health vs. commerce, education vs. marketing, and civil rights vs. civic responsibilities, to name just a few, cloud the picture.

Congress has made several attempts to limit young people's access to some of the more irresponsible websites. But what's "irresponsible"? Like beauty, it lies in the eye of the beholder. Filters designed to prohibit some websites haven't worked well. National Families in Action, which created and administers the Parent Corps, could not access its own drug-education site from its first Internet Service Provider (ISP) because the ISP's filter shut out all sites with the word "drug"!

We believe the best thing parents can do is 1) monitor children's Internet activity when they're young and 2) teach older kids how to think critically about what they find on the Internet.

Monitoring

For children age 10 or younger, we recommend that the family computer be kept where the family congregates. If your family has no computer, we recommend that you accompany your child to the library to help him or her "surf the net." Children should not be allowed access to the Internet without parental supervision. Introduce children to the wonders of the Internet, but carefully monitor their surfing to protect them from sites that do not have their welfare in mind. Give children permission to access the Internet only when you or other parents you trust are present.

Critical Thinking

When children approach adolescence, parents must recognize that their ability to monitor children's Internet access is limited. It is therefore essential to teach older children how to think critically about what they find on the Internet. Its World Wide Web is a place where there is truth but also lies; where there is scientifically accurate information but also pseudo-science; where all sites have experts but some are real and others are not; where some sites are law-abiding while others flaunt the law; where some sites educate but others purposefully miseducate.

Give children guidelines for evaluating what they find on the Internet. Teach them to ask themselves questions about websites they find. What is this website trying to sell me? Do the people who made this website care about what happens to me or do they just want my money? Is this website trying to sell me something that's against the law? Is it legal to buy prescription drugs without my doctor's prescription? If it's against the law to grow marijuana, how can selling marijuana seeds be legal? Or selling marijuana? The more skeptical you teach your children to be about what they find on the Internet, the more you will protect them from exploitive and predatory websites targeting children's expendable income at the expense of their health and well-being.

Background for Parents: Overview of Drug Laws

The basis for most local and state drug laws are the federal drugs laws and several international treaties the US and other nations have signed.

The treaties include the Single Convention Treaty of 1961, the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971, and the Convention against the Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988.

Federal drug laws include the Controlled Substance Act of 1970, a consolidation of various drug laws passed by Congress since the early 1900s, and the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which evolved over time from the Pure Food and Drug Act Congress passed in 1906.

Controlled Substances Act

The Controlled Substance Act classifies abused drugs into one of five schedules based on each drug's medicinal value, harmfulness, and potential for abuse or addiction. Schedule I is reserved for the most harmful drugs of abuse, Schedule V for the least harmful drugs of abuse.

Schedule I drugs are defined as follows: 1) the drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse, 2) the drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and 3) there is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision. Schedule I drugs include heroin, LSD, marijuana, peyote, psilocybin, and psilocin among many others.

Schedule II through V drugs contain addictive drugs that are also used in medicine. Opium and cocaine, for example, are Schedule II drugs; anabolic steroids are in Schedule III, and so on.

It is against the law to manufacture, produce, sell, distribute, or use any Schedule I drug. The only way one can legally obtain drugs in Schedules II through V is by obtaining a prescription from one's doctor and purchasing them from a licensed pharmacy.

Online pharmacies break the law by employing doctors who write prescriptions for scheduled drugs for patients they never see, let alone examine. No regulatory controls govern the quality of the medicines sold online; patients may get the real thing or may get adulterated or worthless medicines. There is no way to tell.

Online drug dealers break the law by selling scheduled drugs for nonmedical use. No prescription is necessary; all it takes to buy illegal drugs is a credit card.

Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act

The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act guarantees that the food we eat, the medicines we take, and the cosmetics we apply to our skin are pure and safe for us to use. With the exception of "dietary supplements," no over-the-counter or prescription medicine may be legally distributed to the public without first being tested by the manufacturer and then approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

When a new drug is developed or discovered, its manufacturer must apply to FDA for an application to test the drug. Testing is done to determine if the drug is safe, has no side effects, or has side effects but also benefits that outweigh risks. Testing begins in animals to establish safety. Next the drug is tested in small groups of healthy humans to further establish safety. If it passes these tests, the drug is then tested in small groups of humans who have the disease or symptoms the drug is said to cure or relieve.

The testing process gradually involves larger groups of people until the manufacturer has established that the new drug does what it says it does and has benefits that outweigh any potential risks. Once the testing process is complete and the manufacturer has obtained FDA approval, the drug can be marketed to the public. Doctors can prescribe it and pharmacies can sell it. Nonprescription drugs can be sold over the counter. Without FDA approval, no drug or medicine can be legally prescribed or sold.

It is against the law to sell medicines that have not been approved as safe and effective by FDA.

The one exception to this is the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, which reversed the powers of FDA and removed the protection consumers have taken for granted for nearly a century. This law broadens the definition of dietary supplements to include "herbs and other botanicals" and removes FDA's power to require manufacturers to test these drugs for safety and effectiveness. Anyone can make a new "dietary supplement" and put it on the market without FDA approval. Instead of requiring the manufacturer to prove that a new product is safe and effective before the manufacturer can market it, this law requires FDA to prove that a product is dangerous after it has been on the market and sold to an unsuspecting public. As a consequence, dangerous herbal drugs banned in other countries are now for sale in the United States – and on the Internet.

Some members of Congress are taking steps to change this, but for now, buyers beware. Parents should note that instead of recommending an appropriate dose, dietary supplement labels recommend "serving sizes." Many also warn in fine print that their product has not been evaluated for the prevention or treatment of a disease.

The FDA banned dietary supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids (ephedra) in February 2004, but it took 7 years to get the job done. During this time, products containing ephedra killed many people. It is unlikely ephedra would ever have been approved had it been subject to FDA's rigorous testing procedures. Because it was classified as a dietary supplement, manufacturers were free to market it despite its dangers.