Legality of buying & selling Viagra / Cialis type

[mex]

Does anyone know the legalities of buying and selling the 'generic' viagra and cialis type drugs?

Can the seller get into legal trouble? if so what 'offence' is it and what kind of sentence would they be looking at?

Can the buyer get into legal trouble? if so what 'offence' is it and what kind of sentence would they be looking at?

Thanks

[Peter]

Both are POM (Prescription Only Medication) and so can only be legally obtained via a medical prescription after a consultation. But of course international boundaries make this difficult. I've heard some sellers offer and 'online consultation' but how accurate this is, how qualified their 'doctor' is, I don't know.

I presume both would be commiting an offence of trading in controlled drugs, what the penalties are, i've no idea.

[Essex Lad]

You're misinformed - while Viagra, Cialis and the like are, as you say, only available on prescription Mex was asking about generic forms of those items, like Kamagra which are not prescribed and presumably not covered by laws regarding prescriptions.

[Arginald Valleywater]

Check the UK medicines act......no different to selling a junkie your prescription morphine or other controlled medication.

[Peter]

The knock off drugs aren't prescribed because they haven't gone through the EMA/MHRA licencing proceedure. Should they do so* they would then become POM.

Most of the online stuff is coming from India, where their laws allow it and it seems they don't respect copyright and patents.

So with Kamagra you'd be importing an unlicensed drug without an import licence by buying online.


*They can't, even if they wanted, as patent protects viagra (sildenafil citrate) until next year, then anyone can make it.

[mex]

So if the generics were sourced in the UK (ie you obtained them from someone in a pub or something) you could then both sell and buy them freely without any threat of legal trouble (because you hadn't imported them yourself)?

[Peter]

No, it's still a controlled drug.

[Paxo]

Possessing these types of drugs is not illegal as they are not normally misused i.e. not harmful/mind-altering and addictive. Supplying them to others to be used, generic or not is a different matter, they are still Prescription Only Medicines and can only be obtained from a pharmacist with a valid prescription. Many of the medicines prescribed legitimately by GP's in the UK are 'generic'

Perhaps best explained here... and generics medicines