How is this Legal? – Addressing the Elephant in the Room
Prescription medications and the pharmacies that provide them are notoriously regulated in America today. Between controlled substance acts, medical laws, and insurance providers, there’s hardly any daylight to be seen leaking through the tightly policed pharmaceutical industry and its partners in profit.
Despite this vice grip on potentially life-saving medications, rumors, whispers, and urban myths surrounding cheaper medications abound. But the question of legality keeps many of us buying into the status quo system, causing some among us to choose between other expenses and vital medications each month.
If you live near the Mexican or Canadian borders, you’ve likely heard tales of desperate patients seeking their necessary (but expensive) medications abroad. This, too, may strike you as dubious. And the notion that prescription medications could come to you through the mail from another country sounds too similar to smuggling to be anything other than mere rumor.
So, how could it be, you ask, that a pharmacy in Canada, or other first world countries, can legally ship prescription drugs anywhere in the US at significantly reduced costs? Surely there’s a law against it, right?
It’s Completely Legal
Believe it or not, you’re not required to buy prescription medications domestically. Technically speaking, your prescription could be honored by any pharmacist in any country on the planet. The three determining factors for how you get your medication and how much you pay are simple: 1) What kind of medication you need, 2) Where you choose to purchase it, and 3) if the drug is FDA-approved.
Prescription medication shipped by mail through a Canadian or international pharmacy is also regulated. There are rules that must be followed in order to stay on the right side of the law from the other side of the border. The US government, pharmaceutical manufacturers, domestic pharmacies, and insurance providers are all well aware of the legality, though they generally choose to downplay, ignore, or misconstrue the fact. Even so, these facts stand: filling and receiving prescriptions from abroad is both entirely legal and sensibly regulated under most circumstances, with quantity limitations
The Rules
Online pharmacies—such as The Canadian Drugstore—have to follow certain rules and regulations like any other international industry. These regulations only serve to bolster the legitimacy and legality of receiving prescriptions through the mail.
In order to deliver your medication (whether it’s for blood pressure, erectile dysfunction, or even smoking cessation) Canadian and other first world international pharmacies:
- Need a prescription issued by a physician for the medication in question
- Ship in 90-day quantities at maximum
- Ship FDA-approved medications
- Refrain from shipping habit-forming medications
- Must register and receive licensing from Canadian or other international regulatory authorities
If these conditions have been met, you can trust that you’re getting legitimate medications from a licensed pharmacy at drastically reduced costs. However, if an online pharmacy offers you habit-forming medications, or any medication without a prescription, you may want to take your business elsewhere.
How it Works
Now that we know that drug importation through Canada is legal and sensibly regulated for consumer protection, let’s dive into the safety and affordability of imported drugs. Is it safe after all? And how can the difference in prices rise to nearly 80% in some cases?
Here’s a rundown of how it works.
Step 1
Using your prescription, you’ll browse our online catalog to find the medication and dosage you need. After ordering and paying, you’ll receive a notification and expected delivery date.
Step 2
Your pharmacist will order your medication from another provider located where your prescription drugs are cheaper than they would be. Pharmaceutical companies price their products to be affordable to local populations around the world, meaning that depending where you are, certain medications could already be severely discounted.
Step 3
Your prescription and medication are reviewed by the filling pharmacist for safety and to make sure that you’re getting exactly what you’ve paid for. Pharmacists review each order for the utmost safety and accuracy.
Step 4
Your medication is shipped and should arrive at your door shortly. Since you’ve ordered a 90-day supply, you don’t have to worry about refills for a solid 3 months. This eliminates the how, where, and intensely marked-up price of securing your medication domestically. Once your 90-day supply runs low, you’ll put in another order (the online pharmacy should send you a reminder that your prescription is running low), and rest easy in the knowledge that your medication is on its way.
Legal, Safe, Affordable, & Obvious
So, why don’t more of us import our drugs from Canadian or other international pharmacies? If it’s as legal, safe, and affordable as we say, what’s keeping people paying more domestically for drugs that could be had at a fraction of the price? The answer, as we’ve addressed, is uncertainty—uncertainty about legality and legitimacy combined with the efforts of domestic industries to sway us from looking elsewhere.
If you continue to pay hand over fist for domestic medications that you simply can’t afford, it’s time to break the cycle and exercise your best alternative option: the legal and regulated importation of prescription drugs through our international friends.
Put your doubts to bed by completing your first order today.
We’ll say it until we’re blue in the face: it is legal and more affordable to buy your prescription medications from Canadian pharmacies. But if you’re still on the fence about it, there’s one simple way to discover the benefits once and for all. Skip your backed-up local pharmacy next time and put in an order with The Canadian Drugstore. Once you see how affordable, quick, easy, and safe it is, you won’t believe you ever did it any other way. Search for the medicine you need here and compare the price to what you pay locally.
