British woman jailed in Egypt for 3 years for bringing in painkillers

D3K · 27 Dec 2017 at 11:20

I was pretty familiar with tramadol as a prescribed medicine. It was mainly the downplaying over the type of drug, and volume, that caused me to question who the **** at the bbc felt it was an appropriate spin.

I don't know how it works behind the scenes at the bbc but the only way I can substantiate such hack journalism is if they were instructed to do so politically.

Rifte · 27 Dec 2017 at 11:31

dowie said:
well like you said ignorance is no excuse so you've answered your own question - if you don't know then it makes absolutely no difference - you'd have to be pretty dumb since it is tightly controlled in the UK and she blatantly didn't get it herself on prescription

it

I suppose my point is.....don't think I was clear.....is that how on earth do you protect yourself from this without Googling the laws on a country before you enter?..

dowie · 27 Dec 2017 at 11:32

Rifte said:
I suppose my point is.....don't think I was clear.....is that how on earth do you protect yourself from this without Googling the laws on a country before you enter?..

use some common sense, it's a class C drug in the UK too

would you take some weed on a flight to North Africa? I don't know the exact laws of North African countries relating to cannabis but I can still make a sensible decision there.

tbh.. for tightly controlled drugs like this you really ought to google the laws first - AFAIK if it was for her she had a prescription/letter from her GP then she could have actually brought some with her to Egypt, fact is she obtained it illegally in the UK first

Marky · 27 Dec 2017 at 11:34

Rifte said:
I suppose my point is.....don't think I was clear.....is that how on earth do you protect yourself from this without Googling the laws on a country before you enter?..

At the end of the day, it's a drug. Doesn't matter if it's good or bad for you - You should be aware of the countries laws regarding that drug if you intend to bring it into another country.

Rroff · 27 Dec 2017 at 11:38

Rifte said:
I suppose my point is.....don't think I was clear.....is that how on earth do you protect yourself from this without Googling the laws on a country before you enter?..

At least when my family have travelled they've been given information that includes:

Some prescribed and over the counter medicines that are available in the UK are considered controlled substances in Egypt and can’t be brought into the country without prior permission from Egypt’s Ministry of Health. If you arrive in Egypt without this permission and the required documentation, the medication will not be allowed into the country and you may be prosecuted under Egyptian law.

And lists a number of painkillers and you can ask about anything specific before entry.

Mr Badger · 27 Dec 2017 at 11:53

Marky said:
At the end of the day, it's a drug. Doesn't matter if it's good or bad for you - You should be aware of the countries laws regarding that drug if you intend to bring it into another country.

Not everyone understands the word "drug" to mean the same thing though. A classic example is the wrong headed notion that "drugs" are illegal (e.g. heroin) and so anything you can obtain legally (not only painkillers and other medicines but also alcohol, tobacco etc.) aren't drugs. Hopefully people should be aware of the stance some countries have on alcohol. Anyway, in this case there would obviously be a lot more sympathy and support if she had been charged for having a suitcase full of Ibuprofen that was bought in her local supermarket, rather than pills that are only available on prescription in the UK and are known to have a recreational use. As it stands it does look more like being a fair cop.

Marky · 27 Dec 2017 at 11:59

Mr Badger said:
Not everyone understands the word "drug" to mean the same thing though. A classic example is the wrong headed notion that "drugs" are illegal (e.g. heroin) and so anything you can obtain legally (not only pain killers and other medicines but also alcohol, tobacco etc.) aren't drugs. Hopefully people should be aware of the stance some countries have on alcohol. Anyway, in this case there would obviously be a lot more sympathy and support if she had been charged for having a suitcase full of Ibuprofen that was bought in her local supermarket, rather than pills that are only available on prescription in the UK and are known to have a recreational use. As it stands it does look more like being a fair cop.

I absolutely agree - Especially the older generation of people, are quite naive as to what constitutes a drug.

Rifte · 27 Dec 2017 at 12:00

dowie said:
use some common sense, it's a class C drug in the UK too

would you take some weed on a flight to North Africa? I don't know the exact laws of North African countries relating to cannabis but I can still make a sensible decision there.

tbh.. for tightly controlled drugs like this you really ought to google the laws first - AFAIK if it was for her she had a prescription/letter from her GP then she could have actually brought some with her to Egypt, fact is she obtained it illegally in the UK first

There are drugs completely legal over here (India) but if someone got on the plane with them to the UK they would be in a whole heap of trouble. Perspective impacts any issue of common sense.

dowie · 27 Dec 2017 at 12:04

Rifte said:
There are drugs completely legal over here (India) but if someone got on the plane with them to the UK they would be in a whole heap of trouble. Perspective impacts any issue of common sense.

nah I'd say that is still a common sense issue

tramadol is controlled in India too btw as is Codeine

Rifte · 27 Dec 2017 at 12:14

dowie said:
nah I'd say that is still a common sense issue

tramadol is controlled in India too btw as is Codeine

Steroids are as well.

However you would never know because anyone can buy them.

dowie · 27 Dec 2017 at 12:44

Rifte said:
Steroids are as well.

However you would never know because anyone can buy them.

if they're for personal use then it isn't illegal, you're again thinking up a non-issue

obviously someone bringing in a massive quantity wanting to start dealing in them would be illegal

this all falls back to just use your common sense/don't be a moron when traveling with drugs

Mr.E. · 27 Dec 2017 at 14:40

The couple of sentences in the Guardian article sums it up pretty well.

Tramadol, a potent synthetic opioid, can only be prescribed by medical professionals in Egypt, but it is often obtained illegally and is said to be the country’s most abused drug.

Authorities have staged a crackdown in recent years to prevent widespread misuse of tramadol. The synthetic opioid is often obtained illegally and used as a heroin substitute.

She's been caught red handed.

crazyDAJT · 27 Dec 2017 at 16:34

Marky said:
Also I read that it's a Class C drug in the UK if distributed without a prescription - So it sounds like she would be breaking UK law as well... The mind boggles at how "daft" she really has been, as it has been reported in the news.

Yes it is class C. She broke a at lease 3 uk laws. Possession, intent to supply and exsporting a controlled substance. Although this could lead to a maximum of 14 years the sentencing guidelines suggest probable be a suspended sentence.

Mr.E. said:
Tramadol, a potent synthetic opioid, can only be prescribed by medical professionals in Egypt, but it is often obtained illegally and is said to be the country’s most abused drug.

So it has a very similar status in Egypt then as well, prescription only. By the sounds of it they have big issues with this drug! If we had a similar situation harsher enforcement and sentencing would probably be brought in in the UK as well.

dowie · 27 Dec 2017 at 16:52

I wonder if she will be charged over here once released or if the whole press/political angle will prevent that? I mean it would be amusing if there was some successful campaign to free her that the Egyptians maybe give into in order to promote tourism or something then she gets on a plane home only to be arrested here when she lands - perhaps the BBC would have trouble creating a misleading story about that one.

Mobius 1 · 27 Dec 2017 at 16:58

Tramadol is more or less the same as strong codeine pills (30mg per pill). So class C without prescription.

Idiotic thing to do. I mean, even on prescription they never usually give you more than 160 at a time. So to gather over 300 and try to get them into another country without prescription is an incredibly stupid thing to do. :/

Rroff · 27 Dec 2017 at 17:13

dowie said:
I wonder if she will be charged over here once released or if the whole press/political angle will prevent that? I mean it would be amusing if there was some successful campaign to free her that the Egyptians maybe give into in order to promote tourism or something then she gets on a plane home only to be arrested here when she lands - perhaps the BBC would have trouble creating a misleading story about that one.

If you are looking for irony one of the reasons that its banned and can fetch quite a price on black market, etc. is that it is smuggled into prisons there to ease the often harsh conditions and potentially the reason behind he bringing it into the country maybe. Something it sounds like she is possibly going to find out first hand.

crazyDAJT · 27 Dec 2017 at 17:13

dowie said:
I wonder if she will be charged over here once released or if the whole press/political angle will prevent that? I mean it would be amusing if there was some successful campaign to free her that the Egyptians maybe give into in order to promote tourism or something then she gets on a plane home only to be arrested here when she lands - perhaps the BBC would have trouble creating a misleading story about that one.

She should, but probably won’t.

It’s a shame as this gives us brits a very bad name, especially when you have a MP mouthing off about how backwards Egypt is and she should be freed.

LeeUK · 27 Dec 2017 at 20:52

She's probably one of these air brains that think dodgy cigarettes are all just a laugh.

peterwalkley · 28 Jan 2019 at 09:32

Thread bump. Looks like she has been released and will be on her way home shortly.

BBC linky.

Kronos · 28 Jan 2019 at 11:13

peterwalkley said:
Thread bump. Looks like she has been released and will be on her way home shortly.

BBC linky.

Cue airtime on Good Morning Britain and This Morning to tell us all how hard done by she was, how so innocent she was and why did not the British government not send in a S A S task force to rescue her from her stinking prison she had to share with all the other innocents?