reason.com/blog/2014/07/18/feds-want-to-...pt-fedex-to-block-yo
"Why should law enforcement agencies do their own footwork when they can simply threaten others into doing it for them? Specifically, why should the United States government trouble itself with enforcing its silly rules against you and I purchasing our medicine over the Internet when it can hold package delivery services liable for delivering our orders from point A to point B. It's deputization, the hard way, and cargo delivery giant FedEx is on the receiving end as Uncle Sam looks to conscript assistance for its prohibition efforts.
According to a press release from the United States Attorney's Office from the Northern District of California, FedEx is delivering drugs. That's probably not a shocker, considering the number of sealed packages the company moves. But just how nefarious is this drug business?
beginning in approximately 1998, Internet pharmacies began offering consumers prescription drugs, including controlled substances, based on the provision of information over the Internet. While some Internet pharmacies were managed by well-known pharmacy chains that required valid prescriptions and visits to the patient’s personal physician, others failed to require a prescription before filling orders for controlled substances and prescription drugs. Rather, these Internet pharmacies filled orders based solely on the completion of an online questionnaire, without a physical examination, diagnosis, or face-to-face meeting with a physician. Such practices violated federal and state laws governing the distribution of prescription drugs and controlled substances.
Oh noes! Somebody is selling Uncle Bob discount little blue pills! For shame. And he's willingly buying them! Shocker.
So...Why the f*** should FedEx care?
As it turns out, the feds say that "as early as 2004, DEA, FDA and members of Congress" told the delivery company that willing buyers and sellers were engaging in transactions that make politicians very, very sad. FedEx apparently established internal systems for tracking online pharmacies, but shipments still got through. This makes the feds even sadder, and they insist FedEx has been "conspiring" to let the packages through.
FedEx says this is all bullsh**. The company insists that, in response to the government's crusade to keep Uncle Bob from buying his little blue pills at a discount, it's asked the feds for a list of suppliers it shouldn't service. The feds haven't gone beyond the bitching phase "...
