Since about the year 2000 Fact: date=July 2008 , hundreds of pharmacies have begun operating over the internet. Many such pharmacies are, in some ways, similar to community pharmacies; the primary difference is the method by which the medications are requested and received. Some customers consider this to be more convenient than traveling to a community drugstore.

While many internet pharmacies sell prescription drugs only with a prescription, some do not require a pre-written prescription. In some countries, this is because prescriptions are not required. Some customers order drugs from such pharmacies to avoid the inconvenience of visiting a doctor or to obtain medications which their doctors were unwilling to prescribe. Many of these websites employ their own in house physicians to review the medication request and write a prescription accordingly. Some websites offer medications without a prescription or a doctor review. This practice has been criticized as potentially dangerous, especially by those who feel that only doctors can reliably assess contraindications, risk/benefit ratios, and the suitability of a medication for a specific individual. Pharmacies offering medication without a prescription and doctor review or supervision are sometimes fraudulent.

In the United States, there has been a push to legalize importation of medications from Canada and several European countries, in order to reduce consumer costs. Although importation of prescription medication usually violates Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations and federal laws, enforcement is generally targeted at international drug suppliers, rather than consumers. Often Americans purchase lower-cost foreign drugs by driving to Canadian or Mexican pharmacies, buying their medications when traveling abroad on vacation, or, buying from foreign pharmacies that ship their orders via mail.

International consumers

International consumers often purchase drugs online from online pharmacies in their own countries, or those located in other nations such as India, Spain, Pakistan and the Philippines. Some of these pharmacies require prescriptions, while others do not. Of those which do not require prescriptions, some do ask the customer to fill in a health questionnaire with their order. Drugs available online are often produced by well-known manufacturers such as Pfizer, Wyeth, Roche, and generic Indian drugmakers Cipla and Ranbaxy and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries of Israel. It is a fairly common practice for North American and European visitors to countries like Thailand, India and South Africa to purchase and bring home affordable medications for themselves, family members and/or friends.Fact: date=June 2008 Savings can be significant, often exceeding 80 percent compared to the same medications available in their home countries. Fact: date=July 2008Travellers may avoid possible difficulties inherent to physically going through customs with their medication purchases by mailing the drugs to their home so they receive them upon their return.