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Comment by imoldfella | Hacker News Reader

Availability: no gatekeepers. methylene blue predates the FDA and is grandfathered. Unless you want to break the law, it will be hard to biohack with rasagiline or moclobemide. Also probably some safety in using something that's been used long enough to be grandfathered.

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Just about any medication you want can be freely ordered from abroad. It is not against the law to use either, as they're not controlled substances. It is illegal to sell them for medical use without complying with pharmaceutical standards and a prescription, but it is not illegal to buy them.

FYI: Possessing non-controlled prescription drugs may be illegal depending on your state. It’s generally a misdemeanor offense.

Whether you’d get caught or not is a separate matter, but don’t assume that it’s legal without checking local laws.

> Just about any medication you want can be freely ordered from abroad. It is not against the law to use either, as they're not controlled substances.

Interesting, so buying prescription medication from abroad (and without a prescription of course) is not illegal as long as it isnt a narcotic?

If it's a controlled substance, no. It's illegal to say "I'm selling you a drug" that's not an approved, appropriately-produced drug that's either OTC or dispensed with a prescription.

Because these are usually ordered from overseas companies that aren't governed by U.S. regulations, they're in the clear. Because it's not actually illegal for you to buy it, you're in the clear.

N.B. some "nootropics" are still controlled substances. For example, modafinil is I believe schedule IV so you technically could be prosecuted though it's unlikely.

I think having to order your drugs from another country is pretty clearly a "gate keeper": you're basically making the point you're trying to argue against.

I order plenty of things online (From other countries) and other than having to wait a week, it's trivially easy. Is it that much different when it's medicinal products?

You mean why would it be risky to ingest substances into your body from an untrusted source? I think that question answers itself.

A while back I grabbed a topical corticosteroid cream from an indian subsidiary of an American pharmaceutical company because it was cheaper, faster, and easier than a dermatologist visit. It's often not a shady no-name manufacturer. Some guys in the bodybuilding world will get their steroids through Bayer's turkish subsidiary. Etc.

> steroids

I don’t knot that steroids is a good example to support your case. Anabolic steroids are classified as Schedule III controlled substances under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in the United States.

Correct, my point is that you often wind up purchasing overseas from foreign subsidiaries of the same companies that make the prescribed and dispensed stuff here. You're still purchasing and using pharmaceutical-grade. The legal question is separate.

A large amount of pharmaceutical ingredients come out of China, and are safely used in American drugs approved, inspected, and tested [hopefully] by FDA. For those supply chains that are supposedly well regulated there's less risk than just purchasing from some unknown/untrusted entity that also happens to be in China, who might have put in all kinds of impurities or even poisons either by accident or on purpose.

Maybe this is a very european sentiment, but I "trust" an italian or german pharma lab just as much as a dutch or american one.

True, the main country who has proven itself to be untrustworthy and doing it's best to covertly poison America and the West in general is...you guessed it... China.

Pretty sure peptides fall under this category as well. Illegal for widespread use but legal for 'research' purposes. There are dozens of sites though that openly sell them.

If it's a prescription medication in the jurisdiction you receive it, the possession itself of a prescription drug without a prescription can be illegal on its own.

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