Mail Order Medicine Illegal, Eesti Post Warns
Estonian residents should think twice before ordering any pills, blue or otherwise, over the internet - nearly 200 such packages have been returned to their senders over the last six months, national postal service Eesti Post has said.
According to the Medicinal Products Act, it is forbidden to send and receive any drugs by mail if one party to the transaction is a legal entity, as is the case with online purchases. Private persons, however, are allowed to send up to five unopened packages to one another.
In a statement, Eesti Post said that 75 packages containing medicines had been stopped at its customs point in January alone, 40 of them originating in EU countries.
The law doesn't restrict sending dietary supplements by mail, though Eesti Post warns that some herbs and vitamins sold under the dietary supplement label may be considered medications under Estonian law, and suggests checking with the State Agency of Medicines to be sure.
Steve Roman