THERE ARE STRICT RULES regulating the production, sales and circulation of medicines. And guaranteeing drug safety is one of the government's top priorities. Yet it is not a secret that some livestream hosts sell "diet pills" on the internet. Guangming Daily comments:

The consumers directly wire money to the hosts, who send the medicines via express delivery to the consumers directly. The payment and delivery procedure can be finished in minutes.

In other words, the business model, though efficient, has sidestepped the supervision of the drug and commerce administrative departments.

The livestream hosts have tapped into an illusion among their followers that their slim figures are associated with the medicines they sell, and they take advantage of their fans' love and support, transforming their influence into personal income.

As some cases indicate, almost all diet pills sold by the livestream hosts are made by small workshops that do not have qualification as pharmaceutical producers at all. And the pills are either made up of starch or else contain harmful ingredients. No legal pharmaceutical companies would resort to using livestream hosts to sell their products.

The authorities have no reason to sit idle, waiting for consumers to complain, as the illegal drug deal grows bigger and bigger with the livestream industries. They should take the initiative to crack down upon the business.

The websites that provide platforms for the livestream hosts are also obliged to take action to put an end to the practice.

Consumers must raise their awareness of drug safety, and buy medicines through legal channels.