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Wikipedia suggests prescription only in the UK. I think this is because it was banned as a food supplement in the 1990s, and only one medication got a licence, and that was a POM. Thus, any melatonin product is either an unlicensed medication (illegal) or prescription only.

The page you link to doesn't allow me to buy any product. Entering [melatonin] in their search box doesn't return any products containing melatonin.

(http://www.mhra.gov.uk/Howweregulate/Medicines/Licensingofme...)

"You can't buy melatonin over the counter in the UK" (http://www.webmd.boots.com/sleep-disorders/insomnia-in-adult...)

MHRA does regulate melatonin sales and prescriptions. Here are two examples:

UK website has prescription only melatonin, being advertised for off-label use (jet lag) and is told to stop (http://www.mhra.gov.uk/Howweregulate/Medicines/Advertisingof...) (Even though Cochrane found it's excellent for jetlag)

Also, unlicenced product (http://www.mhra.gov.uk/Howweregulate/Medicines/Advertisingof...)

EDIT: also, a web search for [buy codeine uk] returns many hits for offshore pharmacies selling into the UK.




Thanks for the detailed reply! Having looked into it a bit further - yep, you're right.


You can buy melatonin online in the UK from Biovea http://www.biovea.com/uk/product_detail.aspx?NAME=MELATONIN-...


Interesting! Any idea how they get around the legal issue?


It is legal to import prescription-only medicine into the UK, providing it does not have a higher level of scheduling too.




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