Over The Counter Sudafed Sends Utah Woman To Jail In Mexico

[bqualls]

I think the whole "get a prescription and you'll be fine" or "just carry enough for your trip" is specious. Granted, she's not still in jail over this. But none of the above strategies will prevent a traveler from getting shaken down for what is actually a bona fide legal violation. I've traveled to Mexico with Sudafed in my carry-on plenty of times without incident, but I don't presume to tell someone they're immune from such a shakedown if they simply follow my strategy.

Backprop,
It said right in the original post story that Carvers relatives were told to get a doctor's prescription or letter.
A prescription and leaving in the original packaging has gotten me through USA tsa umpteen times, and customs in Moscow, Singapore, Hong Kong , Denpasar Bali, Manado,Sorong R4, Fiji, New Guinea,Australia, Maldives, Dubai,Paris, Athens, and quite a few more. It works. No arguing with results.

 

[backprop]

Pseudoephedrine is illegal in Mexico regardless of a prescription. It can not be prescribed or even possessed in Mexico - unlike many of the countries listed in which it can be bought OTC (France, Greece, Indonesia, Hong Kong), BTC (Australia) , or with a prescription (New Zealand) - and/or possessed in personal quantities (Singapore). It literally is not allowed in Mexico. That a doctor's letter 'works' in other countries (and it's worked for me as well) has no bearing on whether a tourist to Mexico will get shaken down over cold medicine. Hence, the Carvers weren't allowed to pass the letter that they did get through security. The officials had no intention of thoughtfully evaluating a prescription or lack thereof. For whatever reason, these people were targeted and there's really no indication that they could have prepared for it.

Personally, I travel with a small package of Sudafed and no prescription - because I live in a state that doesn't require one and my last doctor wouldn't write one anyway for that reason. But I realize it's a risk, though a small one, and I would prefer that Mexican authorities state very clearly what the rule is for foreigners entering the country so we don't have to speculate on what will or might be the correct approach, rather than just a risk-minimizing approach.

 

[Brules]

Tylenol bottle here I come lol.

 

[mstevens]

Sudafed is a brand. There are several different things that might be sold under that brand. One is pseudoephedrine. Another is phenylephrine (Sudafed PE).

Saying "Sudafed" doesn't adequately specify which drug is being referred to. In localities where pseudoephedrine is illegal, they're not going to care if your pseudoephedrine is Sudafed brand or not. They shouldn't care if your phenylephrine is Sudafed brand, but it might confuse them.

Would getting your doctor to write a prescription or a letter prevent this problem if you carry only enough for personal use?

No, not for something that's illegal. Try, for example, entering the US carrying heroin with a prescription (yes, it's legal in many countries, usually called diamorphine when used medically), or entering just about any country carrying cocaine with a prescription (which is legal in most countries, including the US, but Customs is not going to care).

Get a prescription.

If it's not legal, that's not going to do any good. See above. I can give you a prescription for literally anything - bags of diamonds, unicorn farts, pseudoephedrine, panda blood, pangalactic gargle blasters, coca paste. It's just a piece of paper. That doesn't mean you'll be able to fill it or that waving it at someone will keep you out of trouble.

Arguing about whether something should be legal or not doesn't change the law, nor does it get you out of trouble. I've worked with a LOT of people in jail and prison who have strong feelings about whether some substance or other should be legal, but their opinion doesn't change which one of us gets to leave at the end of the day.

 

[kelemvor]

Whatever. This story is long on sensationalism and short on veracity, IMO. The headline would have you believe that she is still languishing in a Mexican prison. She was detained for a little while, $haken down, and released.

According the the article linked in the first post, she did spend a night in a Mexican prison... I wouldn't want to spend a night in an American prison, and especially not the legendary Mexican prisons.

The crazy thing to me is that lots of folks here seem to know that sudafed is illegal. Yet pseudopfedrine (or sudafed by brand) is not on the banned substance list provided by the Mexican consulate... Kind of a head scratcher there...

 

[mstevens]

According the the article linked in the first post, she did spend a night in a Mexican prison...

No, it explicitly says "jail" and nowhere "prison", though later it clearly refers to "a building in the city that contained several holding cells" which probably wasn't even a jail.

pseudopfedrine (or sudafed by brand) is not on the banned substance list provided by the Mexican consulate...

That's not provided by a consulate (you may have gotten a link there, but it's provided by Mexican Customs) and it's not a list of banned substances. It's a list of "psychoactive substances".

It says "In the case of psychoactive substances, the corresponding medical prescription should be shown" then "Explanatory notes: Psychotropic substances are considered to be such things as:"

"Such as" does not imply an all-inclusive list. The list includes a number of things that require a prescription in Mexico but are not banned (such as a number of benzodiazepines), a number of things that require a prescription, are not banned in Mexico and can be critically important (such as some barbiturates used by some epilepsy patients), and some things that I can't imagine are legal most places (psilocybin, cathinone, LSD). The list makes no mention of heroin.

For those who want a clear an complete list of what it's illegal to carry into Mexico, first find the corresponding list in your home country (good luck if, for example, you're from the USA) then look in the corresponding site in Mexico. For drugs, that's not going to be the customs site for either country. You'll have to check with the pertinent drug control agencies for a list of what's banned, what requires a prescription, etc.

 

[bqualls]

Yep. I'd like to see somethin authoritative before I buy in to backprop's idea that "It literally is not allowed in Mexico."

 

[cvchief]

I can give you a prescription for literally anything ..., unicorn farts, .....

I heard they are AMAZING. Please mail the prescription.

Yep. I'd like to see somethin authoritative before I buy in to backprop's idea that "It literally is not allowed in Mexico."

So here is an article: Prohibirán definitivamente uso de pseudoefedrina

I did a little fooling around on the Mexcio Dept of Health site. They mention numerous times. Basically, I get that in 2007 it went to prescription only. Something else happened in 2009 but I can't seem to find it. You can read here about it being a substance with "Those with therapeutic value, but a problem for public health," And it is apparently MORE dangerous than 'trips which is interesting.

LEY General de Salud

I guess we continue with the beg forgiveness plan.....

 

[backprop]

Yep. I'd like to see somethin authoritative before I buy in to backprop's idea that "It literally is not allowed in Mexico."

Prohibirán definitivamente uso de pseudoefedrina

(translated)

The head of COFEPRIS*, Juan Antonio Garcia Villa, reported by the Board of Health General pseudoephedrine drugs will disappear from the legal market, and the substance is banned in Mexico. ...

...[Health] athorities initiated...the elimination of the substance from the Mexican market.
​

*COFEPRIS is a regulatory body of the Mexican government. It is supervised by the Mexican Secretariat of Health, and is responsible for regulating a variety of health related topics in Mexico, including food safety, pharmaceutical drugs, medical devices, organ transplants, and environmental protection.

 

[cvchief]

Oh and we had this whole discussion in the Coz forum back in 2008, though we got further this time.