Travel regulations

[mcdermott]

Travel regulations

If you're going on holiday and are travelling abroad, there are certain regulations regarding the transportation of controlled drugs that you need to be aware of.

There are several aspects of travel that you need to be aware of. These include the export regulations. The regulations of the country that you're travelling to. The regulations of the plane company that's carrying you. And finally, the policies of the doctor or clinic that's treating you.


Clinic policies:

Holiday scrips are provided at the discretion of the prescribing doctor. Although most doctors/clinics are very reasonable about this and will generally be helpful in arranging holiday scripts, it varies from clinic to clinic. If you are travelling within the UK, some clinics will insist that you arrange daily pickups or supervised consumption in the area that you're visiting. Some may refuse to prescribe if you wish to travel abroad.

Whatever the policy, almost all clinics need notice to arrange a holiday script. It's best to give them at least two weeks notice in order to arrange it.


Export regulations

In the past, anyone taking controlled drugs outside of the UK needed to get an export license from the Home Office. These rules have recently changed. Now, anybody can carry up to a month's supply outside of the UK without the need for a license. If you need to travel between one month and three months, the Home Office rule is that you should apply for a license. If you are travelling for longer than three months, you will be expected to register with a doctor in the country that you're travelling to.

The Home Office also suggest that you should travel with a letter from the prescribing doctor that states:

• The patient's name, address and date of birth
  The destination address
  The dates of travel
  The drug prescribed, the form (ie, tablets, linctus, etc), the daily dose and the total quantity
  The date of departure and return
  The countries being visited

They also say that the drugs should be carried in the original packaging, in carry-on hand luggage, subject to the carriers regulations.

Important note: At the moment, all air carriers from the UK limit passengers to a maximum of 300 ml of liquid in hand luggage. If you are prescribed methadone mixture, you may need to discuss changing to tablets for the duration of your holiday with your doctor.

Import regulations

Home Office rules cover taking controlled drugs out of the UK. The decision to allow somebody to take controlled drugs into another country lies with the country concerned. Regulations vary quite widely.

Patients are advised to contact the embassy or consulate of the country that they intend to visit before travelling. Failure to do so may result in your being turned away at immigration on arrival at your holiday destination, and as you won't have a valid return ticket when you are expected to leave, this may prove extremely costly.

An extremely helpful guide to the policies of various countries can be found on-line. The address is:

http://www.indro-online.de/

[H4U]

 Actually, I discovered a few days ago through my girlfriend who is travelling to the U.S. in a few weeks (as she had to look this up & present it to her drugs case worker) that as of January 1,2008, you may carry up to and including 3 months of controlled medication (including Schedule II) without a license - this is only for export of the medication out of the U.K.  Any amount over 3 mos. will need a home office license.
 http://www.drugs.homeoffice.gov.uk gives up-to-date info on this, and for an application for a license you can go to - http://drugs.homeoffice.gov.uk/drugs-laws/licensing/personal/    which she had to get a few years ago-and says it is a very easy thing to deal with.  There are many interesting facts on the site.  It also includes the numbers to every embassy/consulate of every country abroad, because sometimes importation laws can vary vastly from our exportation laws here, as well as a letter from the Home Office you can carry with you outlining this.  She is also switching to methadone tablets as bringing on board a plane 2 weeks of methadone mixture is impossible!

Just thought I'd let you all know there has been a change in the law, for the easier really! 

(see below for the Home Office Statement)

HOME OFFICE
Drugs Licensing
4th Floor, Peel Building, 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF
Tel. 020 7035 0467 Fax 020 7035 6161
Email: licensing_enquiry.aadu@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk www.drugs.homeoffice.gov.uk

To Whom It May Concern: 
 
PERSONS TRAVELLING TO OR FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM
CARRYING PRESCRIBED CONTROLLED DRUGS 
 
Please note that as from 01/01/2008 any person travelling for any period up to and
including 3 months, or carrying no more than 3 months’ supply of medication,
will not require a Home Office licence regardless of the drug(s) being carried. 
 
It is important, however, that our advice concerning the carriage of a letter issued by the
prescribing doctor or drug worker is still followed. The letter should contain the
following information: 
 
• Your name 
• Your address 
• Your date of birth 
• The outward and return dates of your travel 
• The country you are visiting 
• List the drugs you are carrying, including dosages and total amounts 
 
Additionally, it is always advisable for those travelling abroad to contact the
Embassy/Consulate/High Commission of the country to be visited regarding their
policy on the importation of controlled drugs.
 
Telephone numbers for the above organisations along with general information
concerning travel with controlled drugs can be found at our website
http://drugs.homeoffice.gov.uk/drugs-laws/licensing/personal 
 
. 
Drugs Licensing 

[Tony.B.]

Hi

I was just looking through this after a call from a doctor this week.

The request was about Thailand and having been there this year at the IHRA conference i know from personal experience what it is like travelling to a country with a certain reputation and taking your script with you.

I have talked to Release about this also who always give good legal advice.

The international narcotics control board (INCB) have a template letter which prescribers/workers can use.

Of course McD is spot on about contacting the emabassy/consulate of the country you are tavelling to. When i travelled to Jamaica that was an hilarious conversation with embassy staff.... 'Yeah man .... No problems man'. Now that's what you want to hear.

As with Thailand you may need to contact the local FDA but the embassy will inform you of that.

So on this site the template letter and a link to a pdf to each country and their rules around import and FDA etc (some of them intesting reading).


http://www.incb.org/incb/en/guidelines_travellers.html[url]]http://www.incb.org/incb/en/guidelines_travellers.htmlhttp://

So to summarise.

Sort out

Template letter (INCB)

Letter form prescriber (if you can it always helps)

Photocopy of script

Have all three duplicated and carry one copy in hand luggage and one in checked in luggage.

If you are on Methadone you are entilted to request a conversion to tablet form for the holiday period. Whether you will get that is another thing. Tho as McD says time is paramount here, if you give them enough time then it is more difficult to say no.

The GP who called me this week was talking about Buprenorphine but i thought it was worth mentioning a few things around travel and meds. When i talked about tablets she said 'we don't do that here but if you can send me some evidence/guidance around that we will because i think it is a good idea'.

I sent her guidance and all the travel regs and advice i could find., in the hope that a whole cohort could get an easier holiday in future. Fair play to clinicians who are open to sense.

My best

TonyB
 

[Ursula]

There's a slightly updated version of Peter's advice to see at http://www.m-alliance.org.uk/faq.html as well!

[garstang]

In the past I've travelled to the US with phy tabs with dr letter's etc but told a white lie on the inboard visa waiver form about being an addict as the US has had a particularly poor view of addicts imho! You know have to fill in the visa waiver online 72 hrs before depature. I'm not sure whether I should travel as I have done in the past or flag myself to the embassy with the possibility that I may be refused entry. Anyone have any experience with the US embassy? Thx