REPORTER DISCOVERS LORTAB IS A CLICK AWAY ON THE INTERNET

Sometimes an investigative reporter's work goes down the toilet - literally.

In an effort to determine how easily narcotics can be purchased
online, The Sun authorized me to do exactly what a growing number of
drug dealers in Clark County do on a regular basis - buy prescription
drugs online that would be delivered right to my door.

All it took was a simple Internet search to find a list of
cyberpharmacies offering pain medication. Twenty-four hours after
speaking on the phone with the pharmacy's "doctor," 90 Lortabs - a
potent prescription painkiller that is commonly trafficked illegally
in Clark County - were delivered to my home in a nondescript FedEx package.

Then, with Capt. Arlen Horton of the Clark County Sheriff's
Department looking on, I cut open the wrapping, pulled out the
translucent plastic cylinder filled with pale blue oblong tablets,
opened the childproof seal (probably the most difficult part of the
entire exercise) and dumped the container's contents into the toilet.
In seconds, 90 tablets, which could have been sold illegally on the
street for $900, were sucked into a whirlpool and, in an instant, disappeared.

Making The Buy

Everyone I had spoken with prior to my investigation - law
enforcement officials, prosecutors, even a former drug trafficker -
told me that buying drugs on the Internet was an easy matter. I was
eager to find out how easy. If I could find a Web site willing to
ship me Lortabs or Xanax or Oxycontin without a prior prescription,
without even seeing a medical doctor in person, clearly anybody else
could do the same thing.

A Google.com search using the words "prescription drugs for sale
online" resulted in more than 3.3 million Web sites. "Online
pharmacy" gave me more than 21 million sites. I entered the words,
"buy Lortabs online" - 951 hits. That was a more manageable number.
Time to get to work.

I spent more than one hour surfing the Web, searching for online
pharmacies promising to deliver medication to my door that would cure
virtually any health problem from chronic pain and anxiety to sexual
impotence and depression. There were weight loss pills. Muscle
relaxers. Skin care medications. Antibiotics. Sleep aids. Practically
any prescription medication could be purchased online with arguably
little or no oversight.

Some Web sites charged a monthly membership fee. Most appeared to
require a telephone consultation with a "doctor," who would make the
final determination whether to write the prescription for the
medication. The cost of this initial consultation seemed to average
about $120, added to the cost of the medicine.

I selected one of a plethora of Internet pharmacies advertising
Lortabs for no particular reason other than it offered the product I
wanted at a relatively reasonable cost. (The Sun has chosen not to
identify the Web site used in this investigation.) It informed me
that after filling out a brief personal medical history, the company
would schedule a telephone consultation. After the consultation, I
expected to be offered a 30-day supply of Lortabs (90 pills) for $74
, plus shipping.

Within a few hours, I received an e-mail notifying me that I had been
scheduled for a "consultation" between noon and 1 p.m. two days
later. At about 11:45 a.m., the phone rang.

'Consultation'

"This is Manuel, physician's assistant, calling regarding your
consultation," he said with a thick foreign accent. "Yes, I was
expecting you," I replied. "What is your date of birth?" he asked. I
responded. "And what medication are you requesting from us?"

No beating around the bush. Without asking me any questions about my
symptoms or medical history, without asking me about my pain, without
any questions that one would expect a physician to ask, Manuel asked
me what drug I wanted. I told him I would like a supply of Lortabs.
Strong ones. The strongest ones they make.

"Did you fax us your medical records?" he asked. This question caught
me off guard. I knew when I began my investigation that some online
pharmacies - perhaps most - required clients to submit records,
copies of MRIs or something to document medical problems, but I had
not read anything that required me to do that.

"I did everything that the Web site told me I had to do," I insisted.

"It also requested you to fax us your medical records, sir," he
replied. There were several voices audible in the background as he
spoke. It sounded like children playing. I began wondering whether my
plot would begin to unravel without a legitimate set of medical
records documenting a need for heavy-duty painkillers.

Then, in an instant, it hit me! I used to see a chiropractor,
although it had been at least two years since my most recent visit. I
assured him that I would contact my chiropractor to have records faxed.

Twenty minutes later, I received an e-mail telling me that my request
for Lortabs was approved and that they would be sent by overnight
express. About 24 hours later, the FedEx shipment arrived at my home.

The Shipment

The package's label did not identify the shipper. The return address
was a discreet street address in Tampa, Fla. Tampa, according to
several law enforcement officers, is where the majority of drug
shipments to Clark County originate.

The pill container appeared as any prescription medicine bottle I had
ever seen. It was an amber-tinted translucent bottle with a label
identifying the drug, the strength and the doctor who prescribed it -
"Dr. MC Sherry Denis," with whom I had neither spoken nor heard of
prior to my drug shipment.

I was instructed to take one tablet by mouth three times a day. It
contained the warning labels that are customary with heavy narcotics.
Take with food. May cause drowsiness. Use care when operating a car
or dangerous machinery.

Had I been so inclined, I could have used (or abused) the drugs, or
trafficked them for as much as $10 each. Presumably, I could have
done the same thing at other online pharmacies, receiving multiple
nondescript packages at my home, each one containing a controlled
substance that I could turn around and sell.

In 25 days I would be authorized to receive a refill, and 25 days
later I could buy yet another shipment of Lortabs, all without
personally seeing a physician.

We chose to take the experiment no further. We had proven our point.
Our questions concerning how easy it was to buy Lortabs online was
answered. We found that with nothing more than a computer and a
two-year-old medical record from a chiropractor we were able to
obtain commonly trafficked narcotics online. Knowing what we could
have done with them, were we so inclined, was enough of a wake-up call for us.