Buying Modafinil on the Internet

Many modafinil prescriptions are off-label, and insurance companies may not be willing to cover the cost. This, plus reasons of general cost savings and convenience, drive some patients to look for internet pharmacies to fill their prescriptions. Some of the less savory pharmacies even write the prescription for you and then fill it - so that no U.S.-based doctor is needed.

Importing drugs without a license is against the law. There is no "personal use" exemption, despite what many people think. Authorities have rarely prosecuted anyone, though. The worst that usually happens is that the package is intercepted and you won't get what you ordered.

Most modafinil sold through the internet is in the form of pills, 100 mg or (more commonly) 200 mg. Some websites sell only modafinil (although perhaps under more than one name); others sell other body-hacking drugs also. There are also general pharmacies that sell many medicines, including modafinil. Armodafinil is often sold as a different product (it is one enantiomer of modafinil).

It should be noted that people necessarily don't use internet pharmacies because they are trying to do anything beyond the bounds of good taste. There are legitimate reasons for using them - primarily cost. The biggest downside is that you run a risk of inferior product. The drug system inside the U.S. is very safe, but you lose some assurance when you go abroad. A Canadian government official has stated that U.S. consumers should not rely on guarantees from his country. A study of people who use modafinil as a performance-enhancer (without a medical reason) found 91 percent reported they purchased the drug online.

An industry trade group has estimated that 2% of the drugs sold each year are counterfeit, while the World Health Organization estimates 5-8% of drugs worldwide are counterfeit. Whether these percentages are by dollar value, number of doses or pills, or mass is not clear. An Australian study found most sites that sell modafinil use a "number of features to indicate legitimacy."

There are many features of the prescription drug industry that drive consumers crazy, enable sketchy suppliers, permit arbitrage, and make things confusing for doctors and patients. This partly drives the gray market for Modafinil and other drugs.