Druginfonet   Those who maintain this Web site have scanned in both the
official package insert and the patient package insert.

  F D A   It lists drug labeling information for drugs approved since 1998, as
well as consumer-friendly versions; new drug approvals; and discussions of
items currently in the news.

  Drug Facts and Comparison   This highly respected publication, known generally
only to pharmacists, examines drugs within a particular class -- say, antidepressants
or calcium channel blockers -- and compares their therapeutic action, dosage,
precautions, and drug interactions.
By registering on their site, you may access an abridged version of the publication at
no cost; access to the complete version is by paid subscription only.
There is a consumer section with good monographs. There is also a drug interaction
index, as well as drug quizzes for the health professional.

  C E S A R (Center for Substance Abuse Research)   Located at the Universitiy
of Maryland, this site is good for basic information and numerous charts as well as
statistics.

  Drug Enforcement Administration   This Web site contains a listing of "drugs
of concern," as well as access schedules of controlled substances and statistics,
such as the number of meth lab seizures over the last decade.

  HerbMed   The Alternative Medicine Faoundation, a nonprofit organization located
in Bethesda, has created this useful database, which contains summaries of published
studies done with commonly used botanicals, with links to the articles' abstracts in
PubMed. Adverse effects are linked to the FDA's adverse events reports.

  National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine   This is the part of
the National Institute of Health that sponsors research on complimentary and alternative medicine. At this site, you'll find fact sheets on natural products and also "consensus reports," summaries of conferences that came to conclusions about the use of certain alternative medicines.

  I B I D S (International Bibliographic Information on Dietary Suppements)   This bibliographic database of "published, international scientific literature on dietary
supplements, including vitamines, minerals, and botanicals." You may choose to
search the full database of for consumer references or peer-reviewed journals only.

  Consumerlabs   One of the difficulties with herbals is that often the product that
you buy may contain little of the active ingredient. Consumerlabs tests natural products
to see what they actually contain; some of their results are available for nonsubscribers.

  MEDICAL BOTANY   For those who want to learn about natural products
themselves, there is a mini-course by James A. Duke, one of the gurus on the use of
herbals. This site contains his actual lecture notes.