If you are on methadone can you leave the country I want to go to Egypt with my husband?

Answer 1

Firstly, if you intend to take more than 500 mg of methadone out of the country you need to obtain an export license from the UK Home Office. This sounds challenging but is, in fact, quite a simple process. You should ask your prescribing doctor to write to the Home Office Licensing Section, Drugs Branch. Make sure the doctor requests on your behalf the license and specifying how much you want to take, the form it is in (liquid / tablet), the daily dose you take, and the number of days you will be out of the country and providing your name and address, so that the license can be sent straight to you. There is no turn-around time given by the Department, but allow 14 days. In emergency the license can be provided very quickly. Whatever quantity of methadone you are taking, you should take a letter from your doctor saying why you need methadone. This should be used only in case you are stopped by customs and there are problems over your methadone. It may help to allay customs fears that you are smuggling, etc… You may want to ask your doctor to provide tablets, rather than liquid, as they are easier to carry, can't be spilled, and they are less likely to raise suspicious eyes when passing through customs. Tablets, as you may be aware, are controversial but there is a general acceptance that they can be prescribed for traveling. Also we advise being discrete and having the bottles labeled with 'Physeptone' or simply 'The Tablets' if your doctor will allow this. Secondly, it may be useful to anonymously contact the Embassy or High Commission of the country you wish to travel to to ask them about bringing in personal medication and get a feel for how they deal with this issue. The presupposition in most countries is that you can take an adequate amount of any medication with you but often this changes the moment they know that the medication is methadone. Rather than contacting the embassies, see the related link below which provides the most up to date listing of methadone import regulations by country, as well as further information about importing methadone. Most European countries (the main exception being Italy) have no formal restrictions on importing methadone. The U.S. is the opposite: people who are drug dependent are not admitted into the country and if US Customs find methadone on you, you could be deported. An alternative to taking methadone with you is to arrange for 'guest dosing' whilst you are in the country. You would need to find a clinic near to where you will be staying whilst you are on holiday, establish whether they would be prepared to guest dose you, and then have your doctor contact the doctor at the 'holiday' clinic to confirm your dosing etc… Obviously, access to the internet is helpful in doing this. Guest dosing is quite common for visiting the U.S. and you can contact our U.S. sister organization, the National Alliance of Methadone Advocates to find the address of a clinic near to where you would be staying. Be aware, however, that U.S. clinics are open at some very non-holiday-like hours.