We had an interesting little office discussion on the story about Rush Limbaugh getting detained by customs for three hours for carrying Viagra pills in a prescription bottle with someone else's name on it. There's nothing wrong with that under Florida law, the story says, so long as everyone involved is OK with the deception. But if you get caught by customs, they can stop your trip until they make sure all is well. That's still being checked out today.
It's also likely that things were touchier for Rush and the authorities because of his past drug-abuse issues. Rush shouldn't be embarrassed about his prescription to the point of having someone else's name put on it. My gosh, Viagra's sponsoring race cars and it's America's best-selling impotence drug for men. Pfizer makes $1 billion a year off that stuff. But, of course, since he makes his living making fun of other people, he probably rightfully thought that it would make him the joke of the day. He managed the topic well on his radio show yesterday, getting out in front of it all by making jokes himself. It is pretty funny.
What is not so funny to those of us who travel a lot, however, is what is the legal way to transport prescription drugs? For example, if Rush took the pills out of the pill bottle and put them in a little plastic case with seven pockets that said MTWTFSS, would that be OK? Apparently not.
Here's what I found on the Web site of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security:
Their traveler's checklist says to take only the medications you need and keep them in their original containers.
In more detail, in the section on prohibited items, there is this:
Rule of thumb: When you go abroad, take the medicines you will need, no more, no less.
Narcotics and certain other drugs with a high potential for abuse - Rohypnol, GHB, and Fen-Phen, to name a few - may not be brought into the United States, and there are severe penalties for trying to do so. If you need medicines that contain potentially addictive drugs or narcotics (e.g., some cough medicines, tranquilizers, sleeping pills, antidepressants, or stimulants), do the following:
* Declare all drugs, medicinals, and similar products to the appropriate CBP official.
* Carry such substances in their original containers.
* Carry only the quantity of such substances that a person with that condition (e.g., chronic pain) would normally carry for his/her personal use.
* Carry a prescription or written statement from your physician that the substances are being used under a doctor's supervision and that they are necessary for your physical well being while traveling.
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