Silk Road forums
Discussion => Legal => Topic started by: metacontxt on August 07, 2013, 11:44 pm
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OK so let's say you want to set up shop selling pharmaceuticals. Small scale. Perhaps out of Canada/UK/Oz/US/EU etc Do you think the scheduling of the drug would make much of a difference in terms of sentence (if found guilty!) I'm thinking about the classification your country's equivalent of the FDA stick on drugs.
I imagine if you're selling adderall, methadone, morphine etc - the stuff that is illegal to carry without prescription - then you'd be facing a similar sentence to someone selling smack, dope etc.
What about a step down to meds of "moderate abuse potential"? Benzos, vicodin, barbiturates etc? Less severe crime?
OK what about meds with little or no abuse potential yet are available prescription only? Antibiotics etc? I reckon you'd be more in trouble for dispensing restricted products without a pharmaceutical licence.
So here's the big question. What if you were selling something that the FDA or equivalent hadn't even registered?* Eg there are a helluva lot of different kinds of benzos and benzo analogs, many of which aren't restricted importw, aren't even scheduled OTC? Like, they're just not recognised as medicine. Legally speaking, how could buying and selling this kind of thing be any different to buying and selling a cabbage? Wouldn't they have to get you like they did Capone? 'Well you haven't been collecting sales tax on this medicine you're selling, whatever the hell it is..."
*no I'm not talking about designer drugs - I mean real therapeutic drugs that could well bs commonly prescribed in one country but totally not recognised by the pharmaceutical regulator in another?
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If it is a legal substance in the destination country, and it isn't dangerous to mail, then there shouldn't be any issues. That said, the very act of selling on a site like SR suggests possible conspiracy charges - but that is a bit of a stretch.
Any risk to a small time pharma seller would likely stem from real-life connections (snitches) or plain stupidity combined with LE luck.
Really though, I would say the risk to a small-scale pharma seller that has their shit together is negligible and manageable irrelevant of the substance.
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I'd say it absolutely depends, I mean there are Schedule I substances, Schedule II, etc. For a small amount even for resale you probably I am going to guess going to get charged at the state level, so really that could depend on your state then. Many states have their own drug scheduling, and then penalties within that. Still likely to be a felony in all cases for resale.
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Yep obviously there are lots of different jurisdictions with lots of different rules.
I doubt you could get in trouble mailing a pack of aspirin, but in some places where some preparations are available OTC but can only be sold at a pharmacy...a non-pharmacist dispensing that kind of drug would probably be breaking the law. A serious violation, though? Any prescription drug, too - but do you think you'd get a harsher punishment if you were caught selling tramadol instead of ....say....some antibiotic with no abuse potential.
Just wondering if anyone's heard anything about prosecutions of people selling not-so-hard drugs.
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You also asked about unscheduled drugs. Some states I think include wording that pretty much encompasses any derivation like 'analogues and chemical salts therof' stuff like that. Some for example I think made Spice and other RC based 'incenses' illegal by saying any chemical or compound that substantially mimics the effects of THC is scheduled. So basically that's their way of scheduling things that haven't even been invented/discovered yet.