Several drugs sold as ‘legal highs’ online do not include the components they claim, a report from the journal Drug Testing and Analysis said.

Drugs sold over the internet sometimes contain banned and illegal substances. The research to determine the ingredients was conducted by Dr. Mark Baron, a professor at the School of Natural and Applied Sciences at the University of Lincoln, UK, who purchased a variety of tablets from different websites to study them.

Baron said the buyers should be aware of the medicinal products they buy online. There are variations to what websites retail online as they sometimes tend to keep the names same but may change the content of the tablets.

The products tagged as ‘legal highs’ are found easily on the internet which has led to several legal steps by the UK government to put control over these products, but retailers often seek out new ways to sell the products by avoiding the restrictions set by the legislation.

Baron, for his study, purchased drugs such as 5-IAI (5-Iodo-2-aminoindane), Benzo Fury, MDAI (5, 6-Methylenedioxy-2-aminoindane) and NRG-3 (Neuregulin 3) from www.benzofury.me.uk and two MDA samples from www.viplegals.com and www.wide-mouth-frog.com.

Six out of seven products did not contain the prescribed active ingredient and five samples contained banned substances benzylpiperazine and 1-[3-(trifluoromethyl) phenyl]piperazine which was pooled with caffeine.

Baron also said legal drug markets online are providing ways to supply banned substances.

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