Beware When Traveling Abroad With Medications

All right..I love these armchair experts who speak as it they were awarded Rhodes Scholarships for their dissertations on benzodiazepines, barbiturates, and Rhohypnol..Lets get a few things straight first..Rohypnol is not a benzodiazepine...Flunitrazepam is classed as a nitro-benzodiazepine. It is the fluorinated N-methyl derivative of nitrazepam. Other nitro-benzodiazepines include nitrazepam (the parent compound), nimetazepam (methylamino derivative) and clonazepam (2ʹ-chlorinated derivative). The hydrogen bonding gives this molecule a very durable structure which grants it a half life of 18-26 hours... Other nitro-benzodiazepines include nitrazepam (the parent compound), nimetazepam (methylamino derivative) and clonazepam .. Now lots talk about Xanax...And the ridiculous concept of expired medications..Any chemist knows that if a compound is kept in a cool, dark, dry environment then the molecules that make up the active ingredient in the medication are not going to break down to even a fraction of the degree that a medication, that is stored in a clear glass bottle and sits on a sunny window sill over the kitchen sink where light, humidity, and heat are almost constantly in a steady supply...Just because the expiration date may have past it’s date does not mean the medications looked down at the expiration date on the label and all said “0op’s, it is time for us to die.!!”..How many times have any of us eaten a food item that was a day or two past the ‘sell by’ date..Yet here we all are, alive and gorgeous... For he record, I take 9 medications daily for everything from hypertension to insomnia, to HIV..I am also a Registered nurse so I do agree that the misuse and abuse of certain meds can really ruin my night..I hate pumping stomachs.!! Outlawing a medicine because it has a high potential for abuse and dependency is not as important as being able to provide people suffering the horrible pains of stomach or Pancreatic Cancers with a way to relieve their suffering. Used in a judicious, compassionate, and closely supervised, CLINICAL area it is the Skelton key that opens the door and gives them the tools and blessing to live free from the pain for as long as they continue to live,.... as have those drugs, used in a judicious, supervised, CLINICAL area..

Good reminder to be careful when travelling with meds due to different laws possibly applying between countries. Thanks Alastair Majury

Etihad actually had poopy seed bagels in their first class departures lounge at Heathrow when I flew the. Better watch out those poppy seeds don't fall into your pockets! ;) (I guess most customs officials would apply some common sense in a case like that, but YMMV.)

@traderjoe: You said: Get it: your doc prescribed the medications for a good damned reason. Take it AS PREsCRIBED, people. Do not skip doses. Do not fear stories of Stasi agents locking you up for your blood pressure meds. Be sensible: If you occasionally take a xanax, benzo, Vicodin or anti-anxiety med, bring some and seal em tight. If you need it every day, bring it in the bottle with your Rx number and name. I'm going to be very firm with you: NO, no, and no. Stop giving what sounds like sensible , soothing advice. It cannot be relied upon. This post was not about blood pressure medications. I see what you did there. "SENSIBLE" does not enter into the equation. If you need xanax , do not travel to the UAE, even if it's prescribed, unless you jump through ALL the hoops. Yes, odds are low you will be stopped. So what? Read the penalty for bringing Xanax to The Maldives. The Customs guidance is a little flyer that is not at all clear . It's a psychotropic drug, which is prohibited , period. The customs flyer suggests prescribed controlled meds need a prescription...while being not at all clear as to whether this applies to Xanax. You could have an attorney call Customs or local attorney in advance, but remember these countries don't play by the same rules of law as 'Merca. BTW the penalty can be life in prison for smallish quantities. Under 1 gram is 10 years in prison. Maldivian law can be applied differently to foreigners. Last time I was there the penalty for a local woman having sex outside of marriage was death by stoning. (It's a good reason not to use Tinder --which is another story, since I had a bet with a friend he could not meet a local via Tinder from the Sheraton and I lost) I'm not saying they would not just kick you out of the country , but why would you go someplace with a med you need if you could end up in prison ...and withdrawal. The latter is bad enough. JUST DON'T GO. PLEASE DO NOT THINK YOU ARE GOING TO TALK YOUR WAY OUT OF THE MATTER.. And yes, DO be worried. As to the blogger who had his GE revoked, that becomes a civil matter. How much does he want to spend on a federal criminal defense attorney--about the only people who understand the law....to deal with the matter? If it were me, the amount would be quite a bit at $400 / hour as a matter of principle. The government agents all have qualified immunity and lifting your GE status, unless they give you a beating along with it, doesn't come close to breaching the QE.

Fascism on parade. The harm to you in not taking the medications prescribed by your physician because of stories on blogs of someone "being put in detention" for bringing medication are enough to make me want a xanax myself. Get it: your doc prescribed the medications for a good damned reason. Take it AS PREsCRIBED, people. Do not skip doses. Do not fear stories of Stasi agents locking you up for your blood pressure meds. Be sensible: If you occasionally take a xanax, benzo, Vicodin or anti-anxiety med, bring some and seal em tight. If you need it every day, bring it in the bottle with your Rx number and name. Don't bring pot. Don't bring drugs you're not prescribed. Don't bring quantities of drugs above what you need for your trip. If they take your meds, go see a doctor and get something to use. Then don't go back to cruddy country. That's about all that's likely to happen. Familiarize yourself with your meds. You should know all this anyway--- what happens when you foolishly drop two white round pills--- you need to know the codes on each tablet. Know what they do, what they're prescribed for. No one is going to be involved in an international incident because they have two weeks' worth of sleep meds. Put this in perspective. Those dogs and bag searches are after wholesale mules. But DON'T let these stories override your physician!