Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Are You a Drug Smuggler?

It is a good question.

Rush Limbaugh got caught in Customs when he returned from a trip to the Dominican Republic, on a private jet. The reason he got caught was that he had a bottle with little blue pills. And the bottle wasn't marked with his name, but his doctor's name.

So our fearsome Customs inspectors detained him, suspecting him of smuggling the blue pill that is also called Viagra.

So what's the deal here? Can't we, as U.S. citizens, bring drugs we need when we travel outside the country and back into the country?

Yes, we are allowed to bring with us drugs for personal use, in limited quantities, usually no more than a three month supply.

But, Customs agents may require proof that you really have a medical need for the drugs in your bag, such as a bottle dispensed from a pharmacy labeled with your name.

If you fly domestically, you normally should have no problems, BUT, the TSA website states "medications should be labeled so they are identifiable."

Reality, however, is that this is very rarely a problem.

Then again, if you're unlucky, you may just get detained for those blue pills if they don't have your name on them. Fortunately, unless you're Rush Limbaugh, you may not make the news.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I travel quite frequently between Taiwan and the US, and due to the fact that the Medical services in Taiwan is much cheaper than the US (the co-pay is about 3~5 USD respectively), I usually go to see the doctor there and get my allergy prescriptions there.

I havn't had much problem coming back and forth from there, but, as you've mentioned, I might just be a lucky guy.

Anonymous said...

Then again, if you're lucky, you may just get detained for those blue pills if they don't have your name on them.

And (if you just happen to be Rush Limbaugh), you make the news, eventually not get formally charged, and Pfizer finds it's new poster boy.

What? It could happen.