How to buy unlimited PRESCRIPTION drugs

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I've done this before. It's easy.

Go to any Mexican border town (Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez, whatever). Park on the U.S. side of the border. There will be parking lots very close to the border. There's a good reason to park on the U.S. side, which you'll see in a few paragraphs. You also won't have to buy Mexican auto insurance, which is a little bonus. Walk into Mexico. (Bring U.S. photo I.D.) Within a few blocks of the border there will be dozens of doctors' offices, most of them catering to the walk-in U.S. tourist crowd. Tell the doctor what you need and why. Have doc write you a prescription for each medicines you need, ideally all on one form. This could cost about $30. If you don't like the price, go to another doctor. Remember, this is Mexico. Don't be afraid to negotiate for a better price. You won't hurt anyone's feelings. Dress down a little. Tell the doctor you are poor, and that's why you come to Mexico for health care in the first place. Then go to any local pharmacy. Shop around a bit. There will be dozens of them within a few blocks of the border. Get the prescription filled. The meds will be a lot cheaper than in the States, so you'll recover the money you spent at the doctor's office.

When walking back to the States, you'll have to declare your medicines at the Customs station. There are several things you must do right for this to be legal and to go off without a hitch.

Number 1: You MUST declare the meds! You're breaking the law if you don't. If the Customs officer asks, "Do you have anything to declare?" say, "Yes. I want to declare some prescription medicine I bought." Be prepared to show the prescription to the customs officer. If the officer doesn't ask if you have anything to declare, declare it anyway! Say, "I want to declare some prescription medicine I bought."

Number 2: You can't bring back more medicine than you would use in three months. (There's a way around this. Read on.) If the prescription says "Take 1 tablet 3 times daily," then 90 pills is a three month supply. If there are two meds, then 90 pills of each is okay, and so on, as long as what you are importing is no more than a three month supply of EACH medicine.

How to get around the three month limit: This is why you park on the U.S. side of the border. If you want more than a three month supply of a particular medicine, you will have to cross the border several times, each time with only a three month supply. Once back into the U.S., put the stuff into your car. If it's a warm day, bring a picnic cooler with plenty of ice in it for the meds. Don't let the meds get wet in the cooler. Walk back to Mexico to repeat the procedure. Of course, once you have the prescription in hand, there's no need to go to the doctor again! (Just hang on tight to that prescription.) On your subsequent visits to Customs, stand in a different line each time. You don't want to see the same Customs officer. Therefore, it's a good idea to execute this whole plan when northward demand to cross the border is at its highest -- rush hour. More agents will be on duty, which increases your chances of getting a different Customs officer, and there will be so many people that the Customs people will not remember you.

Number 3: The medicine you bring into the United States must be for your personal use. The prescription must be in your name! You can't bring medicine into the States for someone else. So when the Customs officer asks, "Is this medicine for you?" say "Yes. It's for my personal use." How then to bring meds back for someone else? When you are at the Mexican doctor's office, and you know you need a certain medication for your father or spouse who couldn't go with you to Mexico that day, just tell the truth and ask him to write the scrip in your name so you can get it across the border. Remember, at the border: "Yes. It's for my personal use." Don't say you're stocking up for Y2K! That will just complicate things. It's just your legitimate personal need to have the stuff for your usual ailments. Got it?

This has worked every time for me, with no problems. Just be polite to everyone you encounter, follow the rules, refrain from stupid "rude American" behavior, don't draw attention to yourself, and you should be fine.

A WORD OF CAUTION: There are certain drugs that Customs is looking for. Don't attempt to bring these into the U.S. unless you have a legitimate need for them. (In that case, a prescription from a U.S. doctor will work better at the border.) In general, don't try to bring back any narcotics (Percocet, Percodan, morphine, codeine, etc.) or things like Valium, Vicadin, Darvocet, and other pain killers and central nervous systems depressants. Avoid Viagra unless you really need it! People are always trying to smuggle Viagra across the border and resell it in the States. That's illegal. Customs will demand a bona fide prescription. If you REALLY need that kind of thing, by all means, get a legitimate prescription and declare the stuff at the border. But don't buy this stuff because you think it would be something fun to do. That would be inviting trouble.

-- Prometheus (fire@for.man), August 05, 1999

Answers

I just came back from Mexico. I was told by two pharmacists that prescriptions written by a Mexican doctor would not help. Legally, you can bring back up to three bottles of each Rx per person. Narcotic types such as Tylenol #3 etc., you can bring your empty prescription bottle from the States, have them fill it, and should have no problem bringing it back over. This was the pharmacist's suggestion. Many things were much more inexpensive there. Silvadene was dramatically lower in cost there ($2.50 for small jar). You can get Amoxicillin for kids (the pink stuff) for about five dollars. I also purchased a three month supply of my brother's blood pressure medicine for only seven dollars more than their co-payment for a one month's supply here in the States.

-- Mumsie (Shezdremn@aol.com), August 05, 1999.

Here's an easier way:

Go to www.pharmacyinternational.com and simply place your order. Use your VISA. No questions asked. Discount prices. Delivered to your door from Tiawan in about 2-3 weeks. Been there/done that for my Mom's blood pressure meds. A lot easier than Prometheus' Plan A, and the chance of cavity searches is drastically reduced.

-- Dr. Know (R@x.com), August 05, 1999.


BTW You can get unlimited amounts of Retin-A in drug stores across the border.

But the internet sounds better. You never know when a Mexican cop wants to shakeup blonde gringos(as).

-- texan (bullseye@ranch.com), August 05, 1999.


Cavity searches? Aha, THAT explains where y2k pro has been...

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), August 05, 1999.

Dear Dr. Know,
Did you use a prescription for the bp medicine? Did you use the U.S. postal service to deliver?

Thanks, Berry

-- Berry Picker (BerryPicking@yahoo.com), August 05, 1999.


Berry,

They say you must have a current Rx, but they do not verify. (My mom has one, BTW). They say you cannot order more than 3 mo supply, but I ordered 4. They shipped USPS, charged to my VISA. This was Feb 99. Meds came in factory sealed blister pack, except for the penecillin, which was in a bag.

-- Dr. Know (R@x.com), August 05, 1999.


Y2K, ` la Carte by Dancr near Monterey, California

If you're buying medicines for a chronic illness, take (at least some of) the foreign medicines now, while you still have a doctor and hospital to help you recover in case it was a terrible mistake. Save your local source medicines for later.

Someone, please e-mail me if this post screws up the formatting of this thread. I'm experimenting.

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage.neener.autospammers--regrets.greenspun), August 05, 1999.


If you try the PharmacyInternational Web idea, don't try ordering *any* of the painkillers from there. I did (for chronic back pain) as well as some antibiotics. The order never arrived - but a nice letter from US Customs did (yikes!).

It stated that my package was had illegal items in it and had been held up at the airport and that I had the "opportunity" to try to get it back from them, but that a valid US prescription was *NOT* considered to be sufficient to allow it through. On the other hand, I could also allow them to destroy the meds and the case would be considered to tbe closed.

I'd done this exercise on the advice of a friend, who said it worked for him. Only later did he say "well, execpt for the pain meds - you get this scary letter...". Gee thanks, pal...

Who knows what kind of list I'm on now... (sheesh!)

Be careful!

-- Hugh (hewiggins@mindspring.com), August 05, 1999.


all i wANT IS TO BUY SOME ANTIBIOTICS FOR A SORE THROAT, NOT A LOT TO ASK, IS IT.

-- christina kelly (kellychristina66@hotmail.com), November 30, 2002.

One can buy some serious pain killers and benzos online, but it is risky. Class 3&4 drugs are okay, such as Hydrocodone, Darvon, Xanx, Ativan, Restoril, Ambien,.... The worst you will receive is that customs letter (and Yes, they will release them with a valid US prescription).

You may not order class two drugs through the mail (morphine, oxycodone, methadone, demerol). I ordered a few of those from Portugal back in the 1990's until I knew of an arrest. Then I stopped. I still get Ativan online, problem free. It is from India. If you do not have an insurance card, it is well worth the risk. If you have the insurance card, but not the doctor, keep shopping for a doctor who can write. It is only a value to order online if you must pay for doctors' visits and full drug costs. Then the prices look good. The online drugs are good stuff.

One online seller that still ships class 2 drugs:

www.mexrxonline.com

Think before you order. They will ship this stuff. Vials of morphine are very fun, but if customs opens them, you will see the inside of a cell. Most of the good carriers ship domestically (they smuggle it into Nebraska and ship from there). They give good bulk discouts once you have established yourself. This is a dangerous game.

-- G (gg@lawndale.com), August 18, 2004.



I recently moved out of state and lost my insurance. I've been on Hydrocodone for 3 months for chronic pain associated with endometriosis. However, my prescription ran out and my doctor said he can't refill it across state lines. I can't afford to go see a doctor without insurance. Does anyone have any suggestions? I don't want to get caught up in any legal problems, but Tylenol just doesn't cut it for me. I'm not far from the TJ Mexican border, but I'm a little scared to go there. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

-- Impalpable (impalpable101@hotmail.com), September 14, 2004.

You can visit my site www.quickfastrx.com to order many medications from US online pharmacies and international pharmacies.

http://www.quickfastrx.com

Hope this helps, JEFF

-- Jeff Hatchett (admin@quickfastrx.com), October 05, 2004.


that www.quickfasttrix website link is dead

and the pharmeceuticalsinternational website only sells the stuff listed on the first page - not many pharmacy drugs

-- David Michelson (psyclist@yahoo.com), December 09, 2004.


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