Yes, this is another blog post post about a specific drug or category of drugs, but there’s just so much to learn about drugs and drug addiction. We’re also learning more and more about both every day, so I’m not sure the learning will ever stop.
Today’s drug is the diet pill. Diet pills and similar drugs are so common, yet so misunderstood. You can buy these diet pills in all types of stores, include stores that claim to be health food stores or vitamin stores. You can buy these drugs online. You can even see advertisements for these drugs on television and in magazines.
Clearly, diet pills and supplements are part of life in the United States and other countries. But are they safe? Some of the more obviously dangerous diet pills have been pulled from the market. Weight-reduction products with fen-phen (fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine) have been linked to heart problems and are no longer available. Legally.
Illegally, well, that’s a different story. It seems you can buy anything on the Internet, legal or illegal. This lack of controls makes it easier for manufacturers and vendors to sell things outside of the regulations imposed by the U.S. government’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other regulatory bodies.
But the FDA doesn’t exist for amusement or fun. It exists to help people. After all, before such regulations, manufacturers could put whatever they wanted in their products and often did.
Even with such regulations, manufacturers still include untested and potentially dangerous ingredients in their products. They look for way to evade laws and continue doing business. That’s why you’ll see some companies only selling their products online or marketing their products as “supplements” instead of the drugs that they are.
Untested drugs, supplements, and other over-the-counter (OTC) and Internet products can be dangerous. Let the buyer strongly beware.
