Hawai'i residents by next year will be able to buy cheap foreign prescription drugs over the Internet under a new state law approved over objections from Gov. Linda Lingle.

The law enrolls Hawai'i in a program called I-SaveRx, which will ship drugs from overseas to Island mailboxes.

It would be available to everyone but would be most beneficial for residents with inadequate prescription coverage in their health insurance.

Majority Democratic lawmakers overrode the Republican governor's veto of the measure last week to force the state into the program. Opponents said they were concerned about the safety and legality of importing foreign drugs.

"It gives our residents in Hawai'i an alternative," said Bruce McCullough of the Hawaii Alliance for Retired Americans. "There has been absolutely no indication of any problem at all with quality."

Hawai'i becomes the sixth state to enroll in I-SaveRx, which was started by Illinois in 2004 as a way for senior citizens to avoid high prices for U.S.-made medicine, with savings of up to 55 percent.

Any Hawai'i resident can sign on to the program's Web site (www.i-saverx.net), fax or mail their prescriptions and then receive a three-month supply of their medications in the mail within 20 days. The program will start by July 1, 2009.

Although it's illegal to import drugs that don't comply with the federal government's labeling requirements or haven't been granted federal approval, federal authorities so far haven't gone after I-SaveRx.

Critics of the plan worry about the risk of shipping drugs into the United States that haven't been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

"We're not sure how safe the drugs are, and that's based on what we hear from the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy," said Lee Ann Teshima, executive officer for the Hawaii Board of Pharmacy.

Others argue that foreign drugs are just as good as U.S. drugs. Many of these medications are identical to what's sold in the U.S., with the only differences their labeling and cost.

"I feel completely confident that it's a safe law," said Rep. Josh Green, D-6th (N. Kona, Keauhou, Kailua), a physician. "What's unsafe is people having high blood pressure and not being able to afford to treat it."