This will definately impact sales. I dont think that industry will have the same luck in avoiding prosecution or regulation that online gambling has.
Not to throw stones, but in my oppinion it is a flawed concept that is VERY susceptible to abuse and leaves affiliates wide open to civil and criminal penalties that are VERY severe.
The DEA is going to pursue this vigorously and if they don’t get you I think civil lawyers will.
Just let one college kid OD on Soma or Hyrdrocodone or become addicted to Oxycontin and the resulting lawsuits will DESTROY the affiliate who connected them with the original sale.
In a medical malpractice suit or, god forbid, wrongfull death lawsuit the attorneys ALWAYS sue EVERYONE even remotely connected to the incident. Even if you successfully defended yourself and “win” the legal costs for YOUR defense could easily run into the tens of thousands of dollars. If you lose you can figure on a six figure settelement and debt that will be with you for the rest of your life.
I know everyone wants to earn money and I have heard the arguments about making discount drugs available to the masses, but I dont think this outweighs the downside. I truly believe pharmacy affiliates are playing with fire and some will get really badly burned before everyone wakes up.
All other things aside, what if the worst happened and someone died from an overdose to a drug you helped supply them with? Could you live with that or justify it away? Would it be worth the $25 commission you got on that sale?