British woman jailed in Egypt for 3 years for bringing in painkillers
- Thread starter dowie
- Start date
A lot of people like to say that these days to excuse severe ineptitude. They are just idiots afraid to accept it.
Man of Honour
There are rules and guidelines for prescribing and repeatedly handing out boxes of 100 willy-nilly to the same person isn't how it's supposed to work. Maybe it is done that way at times, but it's meant to be more tightly controlled. It's a moderately powerful opiod, not paracetamol.
That I agree with. I've been offered it myself under those circumstances. But not 300 tablets.
Soldato
Just lucky she didn't try it in a country where they are likely to shoot you or stretch your neck on conviction for such offences. Three years in an Egyptian nick is not a very appealing prospect but as a foreigner I suspect there will be some degree of segregation/special diet etc. so probably not going to be Midnight Express(ish).
I doubt it. If her family can afford it they'll likely be able to buy her some comfort inside but she probably won't have any different experience to anyone else in prison in Egypt otherwise. From what I've heard the whole thing is highly varied in terms of treatment and conditions for no apparent reason possibly to try and elicit relatives to send more money for better conditions.
Soldato
My mother was given tremadol after a knee replacement surgery so must be quite a potent pain killer.
It is highly addictive, after just a couple months of use noticed withdrawal symptoms. Possibly why it’s banned in Egypt.
Although I can imagine if someone asked for a few pills for what ever pain it would be passed along with a second thought. But 300 is well beyond what one would reasonably hand over without question never mind “smuggle” into another country.
It is highly addictive, after just a couple months of use noticed withdrawal symptoms. Possibly why it’s banned in Egypt.
Although I can imagine if someone asked for a few pills for what ever pain it would be passed along with a second thought. But 300 is well beyond what one would reasonably hand over without question never mind “smuggle” into another country.
Seen this on BBC news last night, it was a pretty big story. Coverage started out with"woman jailed for bringing in painkillers" so I watched with interest. Eventually they casually mention the name of tramadol like it's no big deal. Like it's comparable to aspirin.
I'm not anti-drugs but she's pretty much gotten what she deserves, if not less than that.
I think some of the bbc need locked up alongside her for sub-standard journalism.
I'm not anti-drugs but she's pretty much gotten what she deserves, if not less than that.
I think some of the bbc need locked up alongside her for sub-standard journalism.
How would that work?
Airport security don't search everyone's bags when they board a flight out.
Tramadol isn't exactly comparable to morphine either, it's relatively low in addiction potential, less so than alcohol.
300 is somewhat a fuzzy area between a long term supply for a single person in a genuine version of a case like this where an equivalent painkiller might be difficult to obtain and intent to supply/deal. In my experience though it isn't easy to innocently enter Egypt unaware that things like that are controlled and with heavy consequences.
Permabanned
- Joined
- 8 Feb 2004
- Posts
- 4,539
I believe from her picture she is decent looking. If minger the press would not care. Also, I wish I had tramadol sometimes when reading GD.
Soldato
She got off lightly and ignorance is no excuse. However, and this is a genuine question, you only know what you know, so aside from the suspect volume how was she supposed to know that it was illegal in Egypt? She might have thought that it was as legal as paracetamol etc.
I have filled out 100s of declaration cards in my time, but I dont believe that any of them details exactly what is prohibited.
I travel the world with an absolute mountain of antibiotics on me due to chronic ear infections that I have. I am wondering now if I have ever walked into a country with a banned substance....
I have filled out 100s of declaration cards in my time, but I dont believe that any of them details exactly what is prohibited.
I travel the world with an absolute mountain of antibiotics on me due to chronic ear infections that I have. I am wondering now if I have ever walked into a country with a banned substance....
if they were prescribed to you, then i doubt you will do jail time. the bottle / package normally has a label printed with your name on etc. then as long as you declare, let them know, you should be fine (they may take and destroy tho)
Soldato
And thats the problem.
In India (where I am based most of the time) you can literally buy ANYTHING without prescription. Antibiotics, Tremadol, Opiate withdrawal medication, Anabolic steroids etc. No questions asked, and obviously no white label on the drugs stating who it was prescribed to etc.
Soldato
I'm afraid I have little sympathy for her. How stupid.
She's lucky it's only three years.
She's lucky it's only three years.
Ironic post alert.
When you consider that in many ways, Paracetamol is actually considerably more dangerous...:/
Soldato
Does the woman really expect to be forgiven because of her ignorance? Every drug carrier arriving in Egypt would have a ready made defence. How do we know that her bf isn't a dealer?
Permabanned
- Joined
- 8 Feb 2004
- Posts
- 4,539
What is your definition of dangerous in this case?
Associate
- Joined
- 20 Mar 2014
- Posts
- 2,361
Never had it but I don't think it's that strong.
I've been thinking about this, and I don't think she really has a leg to stand on...
300 tablets is quite a lot of painkillers - I feel like even if you brought 300 standard painkillers in your luggage, you'd be severely investigated. Ignorance in this instance isn't an excuse.
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.
300 tablets is quite a lot of painkillers - I feel like even if you brought 300 standard painkillers in your luggage, you'd be severely investigated. Ignorance in this instance isn't an excuse.
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.
well given there is a special prescription for them different to regular prescriptions then your mum would have to be a bit slow to think it was fine to just give them away, also why would she go and get another prescription if she's already got enough at home.
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
for general use this is much more dangerous than paracetamol, you can use paracetamol regularly with pretty much no issues, use this stuff regularly and you can get yourself an addiction, withdrawal symptoms when you stop etc.. basically a real risk of becoming a smack head - less than other opioids thus why this became popular for a while - but it also has an antidepressant effect and that became an attractive combination for people to abuse it
Always worth reading multiple sources, lots of people seem to have knee jerk reactions to say daily mail stories but actually you'll find the BBC, the Guardian etc.. do similar things with their reporting too when they want to spin a particular view on it