Demi
Thu, Mar-01-07, 03:28
The Daily Telegraph
London, UK
1 March, 2007
Internet drug sales 'fuelling slimming fad'
A global slimming ''obsession" is being fuelled by a booming trade in potentially lethal appetite-suppressant drugs, UN watchdogs said yesterday.
The International Narcotics Control Board called for tighter controls over the market in products that should only be prescribed in exceptional circumstances.
In its annual report, the board said drugs developed for life-saving anti-obesity treatments were being bought through the internet and used by women desperate to lose weight.
It refers to the death last year of Ana Carolina Reston, 21, a Brazilian model who weighed just six stone when she died on the eve of an international photoshoot.
Lusiel Ramos, 22, another South American model, suffered a fatal heart attack during a catwalk show, having reportedly eaten nothing but lettuce leaves for three months. Her sister Eliana, 18, died earlier this month of a suspected heart attack.
It is not known whether they took drugs to suppress their appetites but the abuse of anorectic substances has long been rumoured among so-called ''size zero" models in the fashion industry.
Dr Philip Emafo, the president of the INCB, said drugs used to treat obesity ''are instead being used indiscriminately to feed the slimming obsession that affects some societies".
He added: ''Effective intervention by local competent authorities is a must if this trend is to be reversed."
Anorectic drugs suppress the appetite or sensation of hunger and are mainly prescribed against obesity, narcolepsy and attention deficit disorder. They can be addictive, and indiscriminate use can cause panic states, aggressive behaviour, hallucinations and even death,
Increasingly these drugs, both real and counterfeit, are being sold over the internet when they should be prescribed by doctors and dispensed by chemists.
Although the extent of their use in Britain is unclear, Prof Hamid Ghodse, the INCB spokesman, said: "We need to know the size of the problem in the UK.
"The market needs to do the monitoring of their use and we need to know the size of it through the internet. We think probably in the UK there are adequate regulations in place, but there needs to be the implementation of these regulations."
The countries with the highest per capita use are Brazil, Argentina, America, Korea and Singapore.
The INCB said an unregulated market in counterfeit medicines through the internet was the world's fastest-growing narcotics problem.
''Substandard and sometimes even lethal medication is being sold to the unsuspecting consumer," the report said.
''Unregulated markets are often supplied with stolen and diverted drugs, illicitly manufactured pharmaceuticals or through illegal sales in the internet and distributed through mail and courier services."
The study estimated that between a quarter and a half the medicines consumed in some developing countries may be counterfeit.
The INCB called on Britain to avoid setting up so-called ''shooting galleries" where addicts can inject themselves, and repeated its concern about cannabis use and the confusion caused by the drug's reclassification.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/01/nslim01.xml
London, UK
1 March, 2007
Internet drug sales 'fuelling slimming fad'
A global slimming ''obsession" is being fuelled by a booming trade in potentially lethal appetite-suppressant drugs, UN watchdogs said yesterday.
The International Narcotics Control Board called for tighter controls over the market in products that should only be prescribed in exceptional circumstances.
In its annual report, the board said drugs developed for life-saving anti-obesity treatments were being bought through the internet and used by women desperate to lose weight.
It refers to the death last year of Ana Carolina Reston, 21, a Brazilian model who weighed just six stone when she died on the eve of an international photoshoot.
Lusiel Ramos, 22, another South American model, suffered a fatal heart attack during a catwalk show, having reportedly eaten nothing but lettuce leaves for three months. Her sister Eliana, 18, died earlier this month of a suspected heart attack.
It is not known whether they took drugs to suppress their appetites but the abuse of anorectic substances has long been rumoured among so-called ''size zero" models in the fashion industry.
Dr Philip Emafo, the president of the INCB, said drugs used to treat obesity ''are instead being used indiscriminately to feed the slimming obsession that affects some societies".
He added: ''Effective intervention by local competent authorities is a must if this trend is to be reversed."
Anorectic drugs suppress the appetite or sensation of hunger and are mainly prescribed against obesity, narcolepsy and attention deficit disorder. They can be addictive, and indiscriminate use can cause panic states, aggressive behaviour, hallucinations and even death,
Increasingly these drugs, both real and counterfeit, are being sold over the internet when they should be prescribed by doctors and dispensed by chemists.
Although the extent of their use in Britain is unclear, Prof Hamid Ghodse, the INCB spokesman, said: "We need to know the size of the problem in the UK.
"The market needs to do the monitoring of their use and we need to know the size of it through the internet. We think probably in the UK there are adequate regulations in place, but there needs to be the implementation of these regulations."
The countries with the highest per capita use are Brazil, Argentina, America, Korea and Singapore.
The INCB said an unregulated market in counterfeit medicines through the internet was the world's fastest-growing narcotics problem.
''Substandard and sometimes even lethal medication is being sold to the unsuspecting consumer," the report said.
''Unregulated markets are often supplied with stolen and diverted drugs, illicitly manufactured pharmaceuticals or through illegal sales in the internet and distributed through mail and courier services."
The study estimated that between a quarter and a half the medicines consumed in some developing countries may be counterfeit.
The INCB called on Britain to avoid setting up so-called ''shooting galleries" where addicts can inject themselves, and repeated its concern about cannabis use and the confusion caused by the drug's reclassification.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/01/nslim01.xml