The drug phenibut is freely sold on the Web under the guise of muscle growth supplements

The prescription drug phenibut is being freely sold on the Internet under the guise of a muscle growth supplement, experts from the project "Don't risk it. Check!" project of the Russian association "Antikontrafakt".

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Nootropic medicine for anxiety and stress the law allows to sell only in pharmacies, but in fact it can be bought in sections of sports nutrition without a prescription. There it is positioned under the guise of sedative supplements, vitamins, training complexes and relaxants.

"Izvestia" made sure that there is a large assortment of such drugs on the Web. Some of them contain the word "phenibut" right in the name, while others hide it in the composition behind a number of authorized substances. For example, "food concentrate Phenibut Pro 500 mg / Phenibut Pro" is sold on one of the marketplaces as "antidepressant, sedative for adults without a prescription, phenybut amino acid, pills from stress".

The sellers of the product make no secret of the fact that it "is a nootropic," but add that it "is not a medication."

In sports nutrition stores, phenibut is sold under the signboard "dietary supplements, goodies and everything for PP" (proper nutrition. - Ed.). Some cards are labeled "bestseller". Here the description of the drug is adapted to the needs of athletes - such a dietary supplement "improves well-being, enhances regeneration when used before bedtime, provides a boost of energy for the whole day, eliminates the negative effects of stress, increases the production of growth hormone and muscle growth, fights catabolism, promotes faster fat burning ...".

You can find phenibut in the composition of some "boosters with nootropic action" or "relaxants" only on the back of the package. Such drugs are sold as "pre-sleep complexes" or "anabolics" and do not have a certificate of state registration, said "Izvestia" in Rospotrebnadzor.

Among them there are dietary supplements with doses of phenibut totaling up to 4 thousand mg per day. This is despite the fact that the standard, that is, prescribed by a doctor, doses of phenibut are a maximum of 750-1,5 thousand mg per day, told "Izvestia" head physician of the clinic "Dependence 24", psychiatrist-drug addict Alexei Kazantsev.

"Four thousand milligrams per day - this is a very large dosage, it threatens sleep disturbance and increased anxiety, that is, effects opposite to those stated. Also, if taken uncontrollably and in large doses, phenibut can cause dependence," said the narcologist.

Phenibut, added the doctor, does not affect the growth of muscle mass and can not affect. This is affected by growth hormones, anabolic steroids, testosterone.

In the United States, phenibut is not registered as a drug, this allows companies to produce and sell it under the guise of dietary supplements, including outside the country, explained the head of the project "Do not risk. Check!" Sergey Zelenets. In Roszdravnadzor "Izvestia" said that they intend to work with Roskomnadzor to block the described drugs.

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