In the wake of the news that Canada may be clamping down on cross-border drug shopping for American citizens, some U.S. states are now setting their sights on Europe for the same low prices.

On January 6 Canadian Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh announced that he would be presenting a proposal that could result in a ban on Internet sales of prescription drugs to US consumers. Cross-border prescription drug shopping has become increasingly popular with underinsured American citizens. Approximately 2 million prescriptions were being filled in Canada each year with those drugs going south of the border.

The popularity of cross-border drug shopping began several years ago when groups of U.S. citizens would arrive in Canada by the bus load where they could purchase popular prescriptions such as blood pressure medications at significantly lower prices. Canadian drug prices range from 25 to 50 percent cheaper than their American counterparts.

As these drug junkets became progressively popular, entrepreneurs identified a potential cash cow and began the lucrative business of Internet-based prescription shopping.

Canadian officials however were becoming concerned that the practice of cross-border drug shopping would endanger their own drug supply at some point.

The Canadian Treatment Action Council and Best Medicines Coalition spokesperson Louise Binder warned in October that Canada cannot afford to supply prescription drugs to Americans and urged the Canadian government to ban prescription drug exports."It is completely untenable to think that Canada could supply their needs and our own for even one month, let alone on an ongoing basis," Binder stated.

Several U.S. states are now assisting their residents by purchasing prescriptions from parts of the United Kingdom and Ireland. More states have recently expressed a desire to be included in the European connection. European authorities however have been considering their own restrictions to access of cheap drugs across national lines.

A spokesperson for Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America cautions that importing medications from the European community could threaten safety because of several language barriers. "When you start going outside the U.S., you are opening yourself up to a number of safety issues," Wanda Moebius said.

Prescription drug program sponsors assured their clients that they would only be dealing with English speaking countries and could eventually expand their purchasing efforts to include Australia and New Zealand.