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I will soon be traveling to Dublin from India visa London. And I have been asked to carry some homeopathy medicine for a friend. The medicine is from Soukya and have a bill and signed letter from physician stating

" This parcel contains non prescription medicine which comes under natural herbal supplement and are for personal use only"

The prescription/letter and bill contain my friend's name.

Homeopathy medicine are at time sugar pills with some liquid coating. (I haven't opened all of the packets).

Is it fine if I carry these or there can be some issues?

This is my first time traveling to Dublin that too via London so I'm uncertain about this.

DavidRecallsMonica
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I'm that guy
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3 Answers3

59

I would advise against taking any objects given to you by someone else for someone else. Homeopathic medicine is readily available in Ireland. The letter signed by a physician sounds fishy, since homeopathy is a pseudoscience, meaning that licensed physicians cannot officially recommend it to their patients and are unlikely to write letters certifying homeopathic medications for international travel (I admit things could be different in India).

Community
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Johnnyjanko
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48

Be careful!

  • Where did you obtain the sugar pills? Did you get them yourselves from the pharmacy, or were they given to you by someone? If you got them from a pharmacy, did it look like a normal pharmacy or is there any chance that there is something fishy going on? Are they in a usual package (factory-sealed, professional labelling) or does it look unprofessional?
  • How well do you know the friend in Ireland? Is this someone you know and trust personally, or is it a "friend" you know on the internet?

If you're not absolutely 100.00% sure that those pills are what you are told they are, I would strongly recommend not to take them. You risk consequences that are much worse than confiscated property or deportation. You don't want to risk being a foolish accidental drug mule!

gerrit
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24

Obviously you can carry Homeopathic "medicine" because there's literally nothing in it that does anything, and it isn't medicine.

However just because it's described to you as homeopathic medicine doesn't mean it is actually an empty pill. It's not that uncommon for herbal medicines to be misdescribed as homeopathic, and herbal medicines can be basically anything. Just being "natural" doesn't mean it is legal - e.g. magic mushrooms will happily sprout in the wild and cannabis is just a plant.

And it's generally a very bad idea to carry something that you can't be sure of for someone else. You have no idea what is in those pills and no way of knowing; the paper from the "physician" will carry no weight at all if there is anything in there that you're not allowed to carry.

Also, and perhaps this is me reading to much into your phrasing, but your mention of "all of the packets" suggests that you're being asked to bring a substantial quantity with you. This may open up problems regarding customs and whether you're actually importing in bulk for sale.

Most likely, a pack of pills in your luggage will never get a second glance but that doesn't seem like a risk worth taking. Tell your friend to get his "medicine" from someone in Ireland.