Highly addictive pills offered within minutes of opening TikTok

The reporter was bombarded with further adverts for codeine, xanax and oxycodone, among other high-strength opioid medications.

An investigation has uncovered that highly addictive pain pills and prescription medications are among the items being advertised for sale locally on TikTok.

Our sister title, Glasgow Live, became aware of the items after a reporter started receiving ads on the platform promoting the controlled substances. After clicking on one ad, which the platform was paid to host, the reporter was taken to pages on the messaging app Telegram where users could purchase the drugs.

After closing the page, the reporter was bombarded with further adverts for codeine, xanax and oxycodone, among other high-strength opioid medications, which are illegal to sell in the UK without a prescription. Within minutes of looking at the account behind it, the owner – believed to be from Scotland – messaged asking if they needed ‘benzos, uppers or opiates’, despite the account clearly stating they were a journalist.

Benzos, short for benzodiazepine, are a commonly abused prescription sedative-hypnotic medication used for short-term, acute anxiety, panic attacks, seizures, and insomnia. Uppers can refer to a wide range of drugs, including cocaine, amphetamines and methylphenidate (a stimulant medication used in the UK as a treatment for ADHD). The NHS describes both as addictive.

It comes as the number of suspected drug deaths in Scotland rose by 8% last year, with Glasgow seeing the highest spike in deaths. Statistics released by the Scottish Government earlier this year showed 1,146 people were suspected to have died from drugs, up from 1,065 the previous year.

National Records of Scotland found that in 2024, the most common drugs implicated in drug misuse deaths were opiates/opioids (80% of deaths), benzodiazepines (56%) and cocaine (47%).

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which regulates the sale of medication in the UK, said that they are closely working with law enforcement partners to stamp out the sales and have warned the public of the risk of buying from illegal online suppliers.

A spokesperson for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said: “Buying any medicine from illegal online suppliers significantly increases the risk of receiving falsified or unlicensed products. We work closely with law enforcement partners, customs authorities, social media and online platforms to remove illegal medicines from sale, block harmful websites, disrupt payment routes, and delist offending domains from search engines.

“Where breaches of the law are identified in the UK, we will not hesitate to use the full range of our enforcement powers to protect public health, including, where appropriate, prosecuting those who put people at risk.”

Medications being touted on the social media platform also included peptides, which are often marketed for weight loss or muscle gain.

Lynda Scammell, Head of Borderlines, MHRA said: “Peptide products may be sold as cosmetics, supplements and medicines, and depending on their intended purpose, they fall under different regulatory frameworks.

“The MHRA determines whether a product is a medicine on a case-by-case basis. This includes consideration of a number of factors including the product’s effect on the body, the way it is used and takes into account all the available evidence and relevant legal precedents.

“We disregard claims that products are for ‘research purposes’ if it is clear that such claims are being used as an attempt to avoid medicines regulations. If there is evidence within the promotional material that the products are in fact unauthorised medicines intended for human use, we will take appropriate regulatory action.

“If a product is classified as a medicine and is not appropriately authorised, we take regulatory compliance action. Not all peptides fall under MHRA’s remit, for example, many peptides are sold for body-building purposes and in the absence of medicinal claims, these would not be considered medicines.”

TikTok were contacted about the sale of the medications on the widely used platform. The company said that all accounts found in the investigation have been banned, adding that their community guidelines ban the sale of to regulated, prohibited, or high-risk goods and services. They added that the majority of adverts violating their policies are removed before being reported.

However, moments after receiving their response, two further adverts for pregabalin (a prescription medication used to treat epilepsy, nerve pain and generalised anxiety disorder) and “Royal-225” (a high-dose, illegal tablet containing synthetic opioid tramadol hydrochloride) appeared.

The BBC reports that Royal-225 is “not licensed for use anywhere in the world” and can cause breathing difficulties, seizures and an overdose can kill. The drug is among a dozens driving a public heath crisis in West Africa.

Police Scotland were also contacted for comment.

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