DB is right. But it's a very grey area. Some of them are more legal than others.

Look up Nation Pharmacy and see what happened there. That's probably the biggest one in terms of news stories. And then there's the other one that we're not sposed to talk about here. Both were shut down because they were illegal.

But there's a spectrum of legality and some are in a very grey area where the legality can vary from patient to patient ... that is, how they handle each individual case.

At one end are the pain clinics that have a doctor review extensive medical records for all patients, reliably verify their identity, contact previous medical providers after getting a Release, and have a PortaMedic visit you. Those are the most legal.

In almost all cases, though, the legal worries are those of the doctor and pharmacy. If you have an Rx bottle from a real pharmacy and doctor with DEA #s, you're probably legal to have it unless you lied to them.