5 ms·

There is a black market for prescription drugs like everything else. Grey market really since it is a legal drug. I've used the grey market with success but ymm

by sosuke 7y ago

There is a black market for prescription drugs like everything else. Grey market really since it is a legal drug. I've used the grey market with success but ymmv.

lostgame 7y ago
And just like the black market for cocaine, what you get in that pill or powder could literally be anything, and there’s no guarantee of consistency between orders. I believe this is more of the overall point being made in a lot of the comments here - that obviously decriminalization would allow for quality control.
- QuesnayJr 7y ago
  What's interesting about the article is that they claim that the Dream Market was able to enforce a level of consistency, because buyers could rate sellers. An independent lab tested some of the merchandise, and what you were really buying was usually what you thought you were buying.
  - MivLives 7y ago
    Just like Amazon the on site ratings were normally pretty useless. Outside info sources like forums and Reddit normally had better results but were still full of constant FUD.
    - Scoundreller 7y ago
      At least the average TOR users doesn't leave reviews like: "The mailman left my package in the rain, one star". Usually a bad review is very well-deserved.
- anaisbetts 7y ago
  Pressed pills in a sealed blister pack coming from a large pharma company in India is hardly "just like" the black market. All these companies are doing is taking advantage of geographic arbitrage and loopholes in different countries' laws to move stuff around. They're not making this stuff from scratch.
  - autoexec 7y ago
    I love how often we hear companies are expected to hire slave labor in developing countries and we should all accept this race to the bottom will impact our own wages and benefits all because of the fact that we live in a global market, but the minute you want to buy drugs from other countries or even just play a DVD made for sale in another country it's illegal and immoral.
    - justincormack 7y ago
      The price difference is not wage difference, India does not enforce patents in many cases, also things are sold cheaper in countries without US health monopoly pricing.
      - 55555 7y ago
        S/He wasnt really claiming that but yeah.
      - therealx 7y ago
        The patent thing is the real difference. With the amount of citizens India has, it's the perfect storm. Any company can make anything (but the output is monitored), and the amount of people and their low salary make most drugs fairly cheap.
    - m0nty 7y ago
      Or alternatively: that most of us happily accept the lower costs of goods and services from developing countries, but some people get upset that this drags our earnings down because of the competition from their workforces.
      - autoexec 7y ago
        the problem is that is doesn't lower the cost of goods and services. If we were all paying the same prices they pay in developing countries for drugs maybe you could argue that it's fair when we accept their wages and working conditions. Instead companies use sweatshops and slave cheap labor to boost their own profits while charging us a premium and expect us to compete with those workers while refusing to compete with the prices offered in the "global economy". If they want to pay workers at the lowest prices on Earth every American should only be paying the lowest prices for products and services found on Earth. That means that the drug that costs $1,000 in the US should only cost us $4. The movie ticket for $13.69 today shouldn't cost us more than $3.51.
- jtbayly 7y ago
  Didn’t we just read about dangerous drugs in simple generics made in India/China and being sold here in pharmacies?
  - Scoundreller 7y ago
    It turns out that microscopic impurities within specifications can still be a problem if they're potent enough. Same would've happened state-side if the production was still there too.
    - jtbayly 7y ago
      So you’re saying it wasn’t just the generics, but the name-brand drugs, too?
      - Scoundreller 7y ago
        For ranitidine, yes.
- alasdair_ 7y ago
  >And just like the black market for cocaine, what you get in that pill or powder could literally be anything, and there’s no guarantee of consistency between orders. The same applies in any market - my last two orders from Amazon for something as simple as shampoo were counterfeit.

by sosuke 7y ago

There is a black market for prescription drugs like everything else. Grey market really since it is a legal drug. I've used the grey market with success but ymmv.

lostgame 7y ago

And just like the black market for cocaine, what you get in that pill or powder could literally be anything, and there’s no guarantee of consistency between orders. I believe this is more of the overall point being made in a lot of the comments here - that obviously decriminalization would allow for quality control.

QuesnayJr 7y ago
What's interesting about the article is that they claim that the Dream Market was able to enforce a level of consistency, because buyers could rate sellers. An independent lab tested some of the merchandise, and what you were really buying was usually what you thought you were buying.
- MivLives 7y ago
  Just like Amazon the on site ratings were normally pretty useless. Outside info sources like forums and Reddit normally had better results but were still full of constant FUD.
  - Scoundreller 7y ago
    At least the average TOR users doesn't leave reviews like: "The mailman left my package in the rain, one star". Usually a bad review is very well-deserved.
anaisbetts 7y ago
Pressed pills in a sealed blister pack coming from a large pharma company in India is hardly "just like" the black market. All these companies are doing is taking advantage of geographic arbitrage and loopholes in different countries' laws to move stuff around. They're not making this stuff from scratch.
- autoexec 7y ago
  I love how often we hear companies are expected to hire slave labor in developing countries and we should all accept this race to the bottom will impact our own wages and benefits all because of the fact that we live in a global market, but the minute you want to buy drugs from other countries or even just play a DVD made for sale in another country it's illegal and immoral.
  - justincormack 7y ago
    The price difference is not wage difference, India does not enforce patents in many cases, also things are sold cheaper in countries without US health monopoly pricing.
    - 55555 7y ago
      S/He wasnt really claiming that but yeah.
    - therealx 7y ago
      The patent thing is the real difference. With the amount of citizens India has, it's the perfect storm. Any company can make anything (but the output is monitored), and the amount of people and their low salary make most drugs fairly cheap.
  - m0nty 7y ago
    Or alternatively: that most of us happily accept the lower costs of goods and services from developing countries, but some people get upset that this drags our earnings down because of the competition from their workforces.
    - autoexec 7y ago
      the problem is that is doesn't lower the cost of goods and services. If we were all paying the same prices they pay in developing countries for drugs maybe you could argue that it's fair when we accept their wages and working conditions. Instead companies use sweatshops and slave cheap labor to boost their own profits while charging us a premium and expect us to compete with those workers while refusing to compete with the prices offered in the "global economy". If they want to pay workers at the lowest prices on Earth every American should only be paying the lowest prices for products and services found on Earth. That means that the drug that costs $1,000 in the US should only cost us $4. The movie ticket for $13.69 today shouldn't cost us more than $3.51.
jtbayly 7y ago
Didn’t we just read about dangerous drugs in simple generics made in India/China and being sold here in pharmacies?
- Scoundreller 7y ago
  It turns out that microscopic impurities within specifications can still be a problem if they're potent enough. Same would've happened state-side if the production was still there too.
  - jtbayly 7y ago
    So you’re saying it wasn’t just the generics, but the name-brand drugs, too?
    - Scoundreller 7y ago
      For ranitidine, yes.
alasdair_ 7y ago
>And just like the black market for cocaine, what you get in that pill or powder could literally be anything, and there’s no guarantee of consistency between orders. The same applies in any market - my last two orders from Amazon for something as simple as shampoo were counterfeit.