The Abe administration has included online drug sales in its economic growth strategy, which Prime Minster Shinzo Abe's Cabinet endorsed June 14. The decision means that more than 99 percent of nonprescription drugs could be sold over the Internet.
One cannot avoid the impression that the government adopted this measure under the slogan of pushing deregulation, skipping the step of carefully considering the issue of drug safety.
It is bizarre that a government would treat drug sales over the Internet as a component of its economic growth strategy. It is also unclear whether such sales will contribute to the nation's economic growth.