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Erectile dysfunction drugs lift sales in Tijuana

By Larry Knowles

January 16, 2006

Tijuana--Erectile dysfunction drugs such as Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra are the most popular medications for foreigners to buy when stepping over the United States border and into Tijuana.

In interviews with pharmacists from a dozen pharmacies located in the La Linea area of Tijuana, the entry point for people entering Mexico through the San Ysidro border crossing, pharmacists consistently ranked erectile dysfunction drugs as either their top or second-best sellers.

The drugs were mentioned in the top three by eleven out of the twelve pharmacists interviewed. Only Discount Pharmacy, situated along the Viva Tijuana open-air mall, omitted erectile dysfunction drugs from its top three sellers. The Viva Tijuana mall is a main thoroughfare for tourists walking from the border to the Avenida Revolućion.

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, buying prescription medication in Mexico and transporting it into the United States—regardless of whether the drug is legal in the United States—is a crime. The CBP warns on its web site “As a general rule, the FDA does not allow the importation of prescription drugs that were purchased outside the United States.”

The site adds, “In those instances where a United States manufacturer makes an FDA-approved prescription drug and sends it abroad, the [Federal Food Drug, and Cosmetic Act]…prohibits any person other than the original manufacturer from importing the drug back into the United States.”

Several pharmacists declined to comment on the popularity of certain drugs among foreigners.

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Larry Knowles is the Editor of Vyuz.com. He can be reached at lgkiii@vyuz.com