You can buy prescription medication without a prescription today! There are hundreds of online pharmacies which make this claim. The problem is, most of these pharmacies are illegal. Many will send you counterfeit drugs which at best are useless and at worst are harmful, and many will simply take your money and sell your credit card number to the highest bidder. Why in the world would you even consider buying from one of these operations?

The most common answer is freedom. You can have the same prescription for years, be well maintained, and never have any problems. But when it comes time to get a refill, the doctor forces you to come into the office periodically- costing you money and time. Another example: you may pull a muscle in your back and wish for the same medicine which worked for you last time this happened, but you have to make an appointment, endure expensive diagnostic procedures, and hope the doctor will let you have the same medicine as before. He may force you to take something different- after all, he has the power of the prescription pad.

Online pharmacies allow you to take greater control of your medical care. You can decide the medicine you need and have it shipped directly to you the next day. It's the ultimate in convenience and freedom. This approach is not without risk, however. Clearly there should be limits.

It certainly would be a bad idea to allow patients to order all the narcotic pain medication they want. Thousands of people would become addicted to Oxycontin very quickly. It also would be a bad idea to allow patients to simply order anything, without any kind of review as to whether the medicine might be of benefit. After all, we're not all physicians. Many patients would make medication errors by ordering medicine which they do not fully understand.

Fortunately, there is a safe way to order from online pharmacies. Safe mechanisms are already in place. You simply need to know how to use them.

Here are a few simple guidelines to follow:

- Only order from US pharmacies. US pharmacies can only sell FDA approved medicine. The protection provided by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) assures the medicine you receive will be real, pure, potent and effective.Foreign pharmacies (including Mexico and Canada) are not limited to selling FDA approved medication. When you buy from a foreign pharmacy, you may receive poorly made drugs, counterfeit drugs, or even the wrong drug!

- Only order from pharmacies where a licensed US physician will review your order before writing you a prescription. That's right, you want a legally written prescription- otherwise you have broken the law. This review protects you from making medication errors- the doctor won't let you order antibiotics when you need antianxiety medicine. Be sure the online pharmacy site clearly states that a licensed US physician will review your order.

- The ethical and safe online pharmacies have a limited number of drugs they can offer online. These sites does not offer narcotics or other drugs which are dangerous. If you go to a site and it offers a unusually large variety of medications, they are operating illegally.

So, you can indeed order safely from an online pharmacy. You can get prescription medicine for back pain, headaches, depression and many other common ailments without visiting your doctor. Take a few precautions, and you can indeed get your meds safely and quickly.