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Australia policy on medications


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After reading through all your replies and also the official website, I have another question: How does one produce an original written prescription when once it's filled, we don't have possession of it any more??? And no, I don't want to have a body cavity search, but then again, I don't know you either, so maybe you do????? By the way, we arrive on Christmas Day into Sydney before boarding our ship on the 27th.

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You can always ask your GP for a letter that notes all your medications on it, but the main thing to do is have the original box or container that has your name and dosage on it, and declare that you have them.

Most likely there will be no need for the letter, as if your meds are okay, they won't need it and if they are not okay, the letter won't help.

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As a New Zealander I fly regularly in and out of our country and Australia. If one checks the websites you will find that Immigration / customs are not interested in personal meds. That said I always tick the yes box on my arrival form. My wife was asked on one trip into Australia once what the meds were and it flustered her quite a bit but we got through. We travel with quite an apothecary of pills and potions when ever we travel overseas so to avoid  anyone getting flustered again we carry a list of all meds in our possession both prescription and over the counter pills. One must be aware that what is over the counter in one country maybe restricted in another. If the question of meds comes up we produce our list without being asked and are generally waived on. Have them handy in ones carry on if carrying only a small amount or know where ia a particular suitcase one can find them if carry a lot. Generally a months supply is considered not unreasonable

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On 10/10/2019 at 11:55 PM, erniediane65 said:

After reading through all your replies and also the official website, I have another question: How does one produce an original written prescription when once it's filled, we don't have possession of it any more??? And no, I don't want to have a body cavity search, but then again, I don't know you either, so maybe you do????? By the way, we arrive on Christmas Day into Sydney before boarding our ship on the 27th.


when I had opioids, they were single prescriptions at a time.

 

to travel, the pharmacist would make a photocopy of the prescription with their stamp and other relevant details matching the box.

 

 Belt and braces was a letter from the Dr.

 

Of course, no one ever asked to see any of it. But I had it just in case.

 

Of course, I declared it.

 

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18 minutes ago, Docker123 said:


if it was anything like my experience, probably flying without any airline.

 

Never had that effect on me, unfortunately, I might have got some relief if it had, had a Ketamine infusion once and the intern rang the specialist to check what was happening, he had been on about 1/4 my dose and was hallucinating visually, and sensation wise, whereas for me .... nothing.

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34 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

Never had that effect on me, unfortunately, I might have got some relief if it had, had a Ketamine infusion once and the intern rang the specialist to check what was happening, he had been on about 1/4 my dose and was hallucinating visually, and sensation wise, whereas for me .... nothing.

There's your problem.  Bloody Dr was taking your meds!

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6 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

It was Virgin or QANTAS Townsville to Sydney, it was a few years ago so can’t recall exactly which but I lean towards Q

 

When I was newbie at travelling my painkillers went missing on SYD - LAX flight. Silly me putting them in my check in😜.

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The comment about drugs being taken out of carry on is an interesting one. Apparently it is not uncommon for carry ons in the overhead lockers to be rifled on long haul flights especially at night. Whilst most of us lock our checked baggage few lock their carry on. May I suggest that in order to protect items like our drugs that are nearly always in our carry on we secure our carry on bags before storing them in the overhead lockers. A would be burglar wont risk getting caught rummaging around trying to unlock a carry on.

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3 hours ago, Beanb41 said:

The comment about drugs being taken out of carry on is an interesting one. Apparently it is not uncommon for carry ons in the overhead lockers to be rifled on long haul flights especially at night. Whilst most of us lock our checked baggage few lock their carry on. May I suggest that in order to protect items like our drugs that are nearly always in our carry on we secure our carry on bags before storing them in the overhead lockers. A would be burglar wont risk getting caught rummaging around trying to unlock a carry on.

 

I have seen people lock their carry on, it is not that unusual. But you have to have the right bag that can be locked in the first place. I keep my carry on under my seat because I constantly need access to it so it became too much of a hassle to keep it in the overhead lockers. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
30 minutes ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

So if we're not flying into Australia, simply boarding a cruise ship elsewhere that visits Australia, does this mean I basically pretty much only have to worry about how the meds (including OTC??) are bottled/packaged, and whether I have a letter from my doctor?

Is it correct that you will be arriving in Australia on a cruiseship and not disembarking in Australia with your luggage? If so, your medications will stay on board the ship and not be of interest to Australian authorities.

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The ship ties up in Australia, you get off, you are in Australia. As are all your belongings.

 

First port of call, you clear immigration and customs. On the customs form you declare everything relevant, and the kind folk of Dutton Force will guide you from there.


Just saw AT’s post. Customs and immigration still apply, not like airport transit lounges.

Edited by Docker123
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52 minutes ago, Docker123 said:

The ship ties up in Australia, you get off, you are in Australia. As are all your belongings.

 

First port of call, you clear immigration and customs. On the customs form you declare everything relevant, and the kind folk of Dutton Force will guide you from there.


Just saw AT’s post. Customs and immigration still apply, not like airport transit lounges.

I agree totally if the passenger is leaving the ship in Australia. But if the passenger is continuing on with the ship to leave Australia, I doubt that the Aussie authorities would care what medications were left in the cabin while they went ashore for a day visit.

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11 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

I agree totally if the passenger is leaving the ship in Australia. But if the passenger is continuing on with the ship to leave Australia, I doubt that the Aussie authorities would care what medications were left in the cabin while they went ashore for a day visit.

We fly to Bali.  I hear they're pretty inquisitive about any and all meds.  Apparently some people are questioned more than others, but the majority of people gett through without any problems.  The recommendations to keep meds in bottles/packages to get a doctor's letter apply.  It appears that Bali has a specific regulation that applies to travelers; perhaps it is a little more lenient than Australia's, although I didn't read either country's entire regulation. Anyway, after staying in Bali for a few days, we board the ship and stop in Exmouth, WA after a day at sea.  I've read it's likely there will be a face to face immigration check, although I doubt anyone will be asking what medications we have.  Then we cruise to a number of Australian ports and continue on to New Zealand.  Our first port of call there, after Milford Sound, is Dunedin.  We leave the ship in Auckland and fly to Hong Kong to fly home.

 

I don't think we'll have anything questionable, or anything our doctors here in the U.S. disapprove of, but I'm trying to figure out just what I need to do in order to avoid delays or problems.  My husband does have some Hemp cream that he'd like to bring as he gets partial/temporary pain relief when acetaminophin and aspirin don't work.  I don't know if it has any THC in or not, as I don't know what hemp contains.  The active ingredients are listed as hemp, MSM, Arnica, and Menthol.  His doctor says that if it helps, he is welcome to use it.  So I'm assuming that the worst that can happen is that the cream is confiscated in Bali, but who knows?  I just don't want to be delayed or hassled over something as small (in my opinion, anyway) as 2 ounces of hemp cream.  

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Anything marijuana related is totally illegal in Indonesia (including Bali).  Customs will be beyond “inquisitive”. Don’t try it.

 

Australia has our own laws about what medications and OTC drugs are allowable. 

 

New Zealand will have another set of laws about what you can and can’t bring into their country. 
 

Hong Kong, I don’t know current state of play. 
 

People on here are providing advice not to be mean, but to help others who are travelling from one country with its own set of rules and laws to other countries.
 

There are things legal in our countries that are not in the USA, that is the way of the world.

 

The one and only piece of advice you have to follow is when you get to customs in any of these places:

 

DECLARE.  DECLARE. DECLARE. DECLARE.

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This is a decent article on the drug situation in Indonesia with a link to the relevant laws in English.

https://www.balispirit.com/community/blog/drug-laws-in-indonesia

Some prescription drugs (pain medication, sleeping medication, ADHD medication etc) can also fall into the illegal category.

You should access your government for proper instructions.

 

 

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7 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

My husband does have some Hemp cream that he'd like to bring as he gets partial/temporary pain relief when acetaminophin and aspirin don't work.  I don't know if it has any THC in or not, as I don't know what hemp contains.  

 

For the record Hemp contains little to no THC. You cannot get high on Hemp. In Australia and NZ hemp is now legal. Our local supermarkets sells hemp seeds and protein powders so while you may want to declare as a precaution your hemp cream will probably be the categorised no different to other topical creams.

 

Indonesia however all aspects of the marijuana plant is illegal including hemp and Indonesia is known for overreacting when it comes to drugs so personally I would leave the hemp cream at home. All it takes is one officer having a bad day to make your day a living nightmare😳

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1 hour ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

For the record Hemp contains little to no THC. You cannot get high on Hemp. In Australia and NZ hemp is now legal. Our local supermarkets sells hemp seeds and protein powders so while you may want to declare as a precaution your hemp cream will probably be the categorised no different to other topical creams.

 

Indonesia however all aspects of the marijuana plant is illegal including hemp and Indonesia is known for overreacting when it comes to drugs so personally I would leave the hemp cream at home. All it takes is one officer having a bad day to make your day a living nightmare😳

Thank you.  We'll leave it at home.  Recently someone reported flying to Bali with something for pain that's legal and OTC in her country (South Africa).  Apparently she was detained for 3 hours while they did whatever they did. I suppose it didn't help that she had entered Bali 8 times before for vacations, so perhaps they thought she was smuggling. 

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