Smuggle poppy seeds, face jail
I am sure that life has been better for the unfortunate Swiss person, arrested in United Arab Emirates (UAE) after the airport security people found "three poppy seeds on his clothing after he ate a bread roll at Heathrow airport," as reported in The Times.
The charity Fair Trials International, which assists people facing trials abroad, issued a warning following a spate of arrests of visitors to Dubai and Abu Dhabi stating that carrying some foodstuffs and common over-the-counter medications could warrant a four-year prison sentence in UAE.
Among the banned substances are foods containing poppy seeds; melatonin, which is taken to ease the effects of jetlag; codeine, a common ingredient in pain relief medication, and any trace of drugs such as cannabis, however small. For a full list of substances banned in the UAE, click here.
Remember, no poppy seed bagels before flying to Dubai. It's not a Jewish thing. It's a poppy seed thing.
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Filed under: Food and Drink, Asia, United Arab, Airlines, Airports
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Feb 23rd 2008 @ 7:59AM
Cathy said...
Well.... most of us would be in jail in the UAE for sure.... people complain we are over medicated in this country and I used to agree. After reviewing the forbidden list and knowing what kind of people come out of that country, I think our "over" medication just might be a GOOD thing.
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Feb 23rd 2008 @ 8:10AM
pk said...
I don't even know what most of those items on the list are. We ARE over-medicated. The only items we have in our home are Tylenol and Advil (and the occasional anti-biotic for an illness). I'm not that old, but in the old days, you'd pull yourself up by your bootstraps and move on with your life. NOW, people carry around 3945834343 different kinds of anti-deppresants, etc. It's sickening. Life is tough, trust me, I know, but that doesn't mean I want to go through it like a zombie. Buck up!
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Feb 25th 2008 @ 8:41AM
xcer said...
Not the point!!
poppy seeds have done the same thing here in the us just have to take a drug test!! Worst is for people who have a illness or condition that requires medication. The world you knew is gone!!
tHIS IS A FASTER harder world a a lot less forgiving! In your day if a person got into a fist fight there would most likely be no big deal! Today prison for same action. Medicine had not progressed nearly as far either!
Perhaps YOU cannot understand because YOU had relative good health! Please learn to comprehend not everyone is like you. I am blind without my glasses. i should not wear them? I am allergic, i should not take medication? Just be glad youd ddo not have these things wrong with you!!
Feb 23rd 2008 @ 10:20AM
celeste said...
Clearly you don't understand anything about depression. Because if you did, you would know that it is not simple as "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps". You say you're "not that old" but your ignorant comment alone ages you.
Feb 23rd 2008 @ 11:06AM
andie said...
Pk, you are truly ignorant. I once had depression for 3 years, and it was awful. It only went away when I entered my 2nd year of Middle School. You have NO idea what depression is like or how it can hurt a person, so don't you dare tell me to "buck up" when you've never experienced depression yourself.
Feb 23rd 2008 @ 1:26PM
john h said...
Actually, in the old days heroin and morphine were common pain relievers that did not require a prescription. Cocaine was found in Coca Cola and wine as a pick-me-up. Opium in the form a paragoric (sic) was given to crying babies to quiet them. Laudanum containing opium was commonly given as stress reliever much as we use valium, etc. They sure knew how to pick themselves up by their bootstraps.
Feb 23rd 2008 @ 5:15PM
kevin said...
true life is hard. Your experiences in life may warrant the use of tylenol or advil. Until you walk one day in another's shoes you'll never know the reasons people take the medications they do.
Feb 23rd 2008 @ 8:26AM
JT said...
I had an experience with immigration in Abu dhabi that I hope to never see again. These people enforce their laws to their own interpretation and to the letter...anyone trying to carry illegal drugs or narcotics into any muslim country is asking for big problems.
I simply had an issue with my visa and was threatened with a $9000 dollar fine and a trip to jail...
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Feb 23rd 2008 @ 1:52PM
Aaron said...
Who made Muslims so holier than thou!! I observe these wannabe Muslims at our county college, foreigners and blacks demanding not to be photographed without the veils, demanding certain foods at our on campus cafeteria.
Take your demands elsewhere, leave this country our USA and make your demands where Muslims rule.
I'm African-American and yes and I said it!!! Take your funk bodied, non-deodorant wearing self where someone like you cares. You have so much to complain about in America, nobody needs your welfare stinkin' behind here!! Yes, I'm biased, biased against all of you stinkin', hateful Muslims!
Feb 23rd 2008 @ 8:30AM
Jessie said...
my mom is a nurse and I still haven't heard of over half of that stuff. Some of the stuff I can see why you would travel with...like for nausea...but alot of that I don't see why you would need to travel with
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Feb 23rd 2008 @ 8:44AM
me said...
Poppy seeds can show up in your system like a drug. Makes it seem as though you have been smoking weed. My husbands cousin was on probation and went to see his probation officer and it was drug test day he tested positive for weed and has never touched the stuff in his life. We couldn't figure out why. So we back tracked on anything new he had recently ingested and the night before I made a new recipe of chicken that had poppy seeds on it we googled that and sure enough.. it can make you seem as though you had been smoking it. Not that they cared it still went in his record as strike one for positive drug test but still.... be careful
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Feb 23rd 2008 @ 10:19AM
LG said...
For the comment on the poppy seeds....poppy is a derivative of heroin,not pot, so if it came up in his system it showed that, not grass....
Feb 23rd 2008 @ 11:13AM
Geoge said...
Poppy seeds do not cause false positives for poy. They do have a metabolits that will sometimes test positive for opiates. So if the test was for pot, he's using!
Feb 24th 2008 @ 7:09AM
Denise said...
I thought it was an opiate a poppy flower, I knew a Doctor who was hooked on Cough syrup with codeine and he would eat the tops of poppy seed bagels to throw off the mandated drug testing.
Feb 23rd 2008 @ 8:52AM
Lou said...
If you work for a company that does random drug testing there are some common foods and medications that will show up positive. You may have to prove you ate a roll with poppy seeds on it because they show up as an opiate.
The company I worked for gave us a list of what may give a positive result.
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Feb 23rd 2008 @ 10:55AM
Angelbunny said...
You would have to eat a 1/2 lb of poppy seeds for it to show up. It wont come up as pot either, so someone must have been smoking and lying about it. I hope no schizophrenics need to go to the UAE since apparently all their meds are banned.
Feb 23rd 2008 @ 9:26AM
val said...
A lot of these drugs are used to treat schizophrenia and depression. It looks like UAE is trying to keep people with mental illmesses from entering their country.
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Feb 23rd 2008 @ 9:49AM
Susan said...
As for Dubai, UAE and Abu Dhabi, DON'T GO THERE. We don't need to add any more of our money to the BILLIONS of dollars we are sending them to buy their OIL!!!
OR, give them the opportunity to enforce their fanatical 'laws.'
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Feb 23rd 2008 @ 10:28AM
Jaime said...
Well, Poppies are used to make the drug Opium. That's why it's illegal.... Anyone remember that Seinfeld episode where Elaine ate Poppy Seed bagels every morning for years and years and then she had to take a drug test and Opium showed up positive in her results?
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Feb 23rd 2008 @ 10:40AM
Mary said...
UAE is a disgusting country that discriminates against the mentally ill by outlawing the medications they need to take. I feel sorry for any mentally ill people in that country. They probably jail them or put them to death. Who would want to visit a country like that? You couldn't pay me to visit that place.
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