At their peak in 2004, the online pharmacies employed about 4,000 Canadians.

Sometimes an online pharmacy may not be located in the country that is claimed.

Has anyone used online pharmacies and is there any way to tell if the drugs are going to be genuine?

For a fee of $21,000, the commission will measure an online pharmacy's performance against 92 criteria.

The company already operates a Web site that compares prices of drugs available through large online pharmacies.

Oversight of online pharmacies is growing within the pharmacy industry.

Some online pharmacies also offer services to customers over the internet.

Because so many online pharmacies are not licensed, it is hard to estimate their numbers.

To order from an online pharmacy, a customer uses a computer to visit the company's Web site.

In some cases, drugs are sent from online pharmacies overseas, so it is difficult for federal and state authorities to take action against them.