# This is illegal, right? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 29, 2000, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-illegal-right/6693 "2000-01-29T17:21:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RoboDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbe5ce/32.png) [@RoboDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoboDude)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-illegal-right/6693/1 "2000-01-29T17:21:00Z")
I was looking on ebay, and I saw this: [http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=245137871](http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=245137871) Isn’t that illegal? Selling the medications, not the info, I mean. The person selling it says it’s legal, but I doubt it. (Not that I have any intention of ever taking Xenical, with or without a prescription.) * * * Life is a tragedy for those who feel and a comedy for those who think. ---
**Author:** ![Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilligan)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2000, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-illegal-right/6693/2 "2000-01-30T06:25:00Z")
Here is the best I can come up with after a bit of searching: > [@](#): > > For instance, the Controlled Substances Act prohibits the dispensing of a controlled substance without a valid prescription. See, 21 U.S.C. §§ 822, 829, and 841. A regulation issued by DEA defines “prescription” in a way that may exclude “prescriptions” for controlled substances that are obtained through an online questionnaire. As an example of a prosecution in this area under the Controlled Substances Act, a grand jury in Maryland recently returned a 34-count indictment against a physician for dispensing several controlled substances, including phentermine and fenfluramine, without a legitimate medical purpose. From: [http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/fong9907.htm](http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/fong9907.htm) ---
**Author:** ![fuzzy-wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b38774/32.png) [@fuzzy-wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzy-wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2000, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-illegal-right/6693/3 "2000-01-30T06:42:00Z")
It’s illegal. * * * “Do or do not, there is no try” - Yoda ---
**Author:** ![BigRoryG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f07891/32.png) [@BigRoryG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigRoryG)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-illegal-right/6693/4 "2000-01-29T19:06:00Z")
Frankly, if it were legit, I doubt they’d have used that shade of pink. * * * “C’mon, it’s not even tomorrow yet…” - Rupert If you need a graphic solution, [http:\ alk.to\Piglet](http://talk.to%5CPiglet) ---
**Author:** ![StrTrkr777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@StrTrkr777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StrTrkr777)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-illegal-right/6693/5 "2000-01-29T22:00:00Z")
Come on guys. Did you not read the whole thing. It says > [@](#): > > Question: Is this legal? > Answer: Yes! They answer it right there in the write-up. Don’t do it and it will not matter. It is actually either a scam or a trap. Scammer trying to get you to pay for nothing. Or some agency trying to get people to do it to trap them. Jeffery ---
**Author:** ![chief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@chief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chief)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2000, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-illegal-right/6693/6 "2000-01-29T22:27:00Z")
you should report it to ebay and they will remove it * * * Chief’s Domain - [http://www.seas.ucla.edu/~ravi](http://www.seas.ucla.edu/~ravi) ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2000, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-illegal-right/6693/7 "2000-01-30T00:09:00Z")
With around 100,000 new auctions a day, it takes alittle time for them to get around to cancelling it. Also, search tehre for, ‘opium’ ‘marijuana’ quite a lot of listings 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilligan)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2000, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-illegal-right/6693/8 "2000-01-30T16:13:00Z")
Like this one: [http://www.instinct.org/~pgl/stuff/pics/funny/ebay\_cocaine.gif](http://www.instinct.org/~pgl/stuff/pics/funny/ebay_cocaine.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2000, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-illegal-right/6693/9 "2000-01-30T16:23:00Z")
Cocaine? Opium? Christ! If Ebay doesn’t get their act together, they’ll get shut down by the Feds. Who would do the plug-pulling? The DEA? FBI? ATF? * * * –It was recently discovered that research causes cancer in rats. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2000, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-illegal-right/6693/10 "2000-01-31T06:46:00Z")
:: clueless :: What is Xenical? ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2000, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-illegal-right/6693/11 "2000-01-30T20:24:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by kaylasdad99: > \*\*:: clueless :: > > What is Xenical?\*\* It’s a drug that prevents fat absorption. Nice side effects. What I remember from the radio commercial is “increased bowel movements, an urgent need to have them and an inability to control them.” ---
**Author:** ![RoboDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbe5ce/32.png) [@RoboDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoboDude)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2000, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-illegal-right/6693/12 "2000-01-31T05:24:00Z")
You forgot to mention “gas with oily discharge”. I bet that’s a lot of fun. 🙂 * * * Life is a tragedy for those who feel and a comedy for those who think. ---
**Author:** ![Babar714](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Babar714](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babar714)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2000, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-illegal-right/6693/13 "2000-01-31T07:06:00Z")
I prefer the term ‘anal leakage’ ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2000, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-illegal-right/6693/14 "2000-01-31T11:01:00Z")
Buying prescription drugs through the mail is illegal as hell, but you’re unlikely to get caught. Usually if they do intercept the goods, you won’t get busted for it. This according to a New York Times article on the subject from earlier this month. Mostly they concetrate on domestic enforcement, rather than intercepting prescriptions shipped from other countries to the U.S. NYT even suggests a [web site](http://www.drugquest.com) to buy your illegal prescriptions from. How nice of them 🙂 * * * 111,111,111 X 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321 ---
**Author:** ![Lauralee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lauralee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lauralee)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2000, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-illegal-right/6693/15 "2000-01-31T15:47:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Cocaine? Opium? Christ! If Ebay doesn’t get their act together, they’ll get shut down by the Feds. Who would do the plug-pulling? The DEA? FBI? ATF? I don’t think the ATF would get involved. My guess would be either DEA or FBI. ---
**Author:** ![dgiddens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@dgiddens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dgiddens)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2000, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-illegal-right/6693/16 "2000-02-01T04:01:00Z")
A friend of mine tried Xenical, but he failed to follow the starvation diet recommended with the product. Now he’s fat and has oily spotting. Double bonus! (He says the oily spotting looks like taco grease. As if you wanted to know that.) ---
**Author:** ![Brood\_McEto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@Brood\_McEto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brood_McEto)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2000, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-illegal-right/6693/17 "2000-02-01T06:54:00Z")
I doubt the ATF would get involved. In fact, are they involved in anything since Mt.Carmel? (waco) If they did get involved, they’d probably screw it up too. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2000, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-illegal-right/6693/18 "2000-02-01T10:34:00Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t think the ATF would get involved. My guess would be either DEA or FBI. Actually it’d be U.S. Customs. The DEA doesn’t touch anything that isn’t considered big-time drug trafficking, and IIRC the FBI rarely touches drug cases at all unless there are violent crimes associated with them. * * * “It has been said that if you place an infinite amount of monkies by one typewriter each, one of them will eventually write a literary masterpiece. The Internet has proven that this is not the case.”