to hope the Foreign Office don't waste any time on Laura Plummer...

[PiffleandWiffle]

She was stupid enough to smuggle drugs into a country against their laws, got caught & got sentenced.

BBC Link

Cue the predictable wailing & cries of "it's not fair" from the family!

Personally, I'd rather the Foreign Office spent it's time trying to help people who are genuinely in trouble abroad rather than idiots drug smugglers....

My understanding was it she was arrested for possession and that tramadol is illegal there regardless of how she obtained it. I might be wrong but I won't be risking it. I get the jitters locked in the loo! 🤤

I'm not saying they were prescribed to her, just that it's very feasible she could have gotten the entire amount from one person without really understanding what they are (most people I know have no clue about prescription painkillers to be honest)

My husband and I are on alot of meds. We do travel abroad. My husband takes 1 drug which is a controlled pain medication. It would be banned in the majority of countries like Egypt a long with probably some of our other prescribed meds.

We can go into those countries with these meds and have been! How? Because we take proof of it being prescribed medication along with prescription slips and Drs proof. Never had a problem. Also the amount is small for length of stay in its proper boxes and in the blister packs.

I don't understand how she got it through border control at this end unless it was in suitcases because there is no way she would have got it through border scanning of on flight luggage you take on the plane.

When we go to Manchester the process we go through with putting meds in clear bags, bagged and tagged! We have to have our proof out of legal source script and letters etc.

This woman hasn't got the drugs legally! Even if she had got them for herself legally for instance from her Drs it then steps into illegal giving meds away. Then she would have to have saved them up from 5 - 10 months as if you average 30 tablets per month at one ot two a day that is how long it would take to get.

Most likely she has got them from a drug dealer who loves these type of meds. Drug users are into these type of meds. I know this because of the work I am involved in.

Yes Egypt does have the death penalty. She got off lightly.

Somewhere in the chaos of words of this story it has not been put out there that you can take these drugs into Egypt in a controlled manner with medical/script proof which she did not have. The Egyptian customs have said this

At best the woman was niaive is the politest way to put it! You can't do the time dont do the crime! She is very lucky. Some of these people should watch "Banged up abroad" though would probably still think it wouldn't happen to them

I can’t help thinking if it was a bloke they wouldn’t get as much media attention

I believe , as the story goes she got the drugs of a colleague . Highlights the fact how NHS resources are abused , drugs prescribed by the doctor are meant to be for you and your condition ,not for anyone else , worse still he lived abroad.

Such a stupid thing to do.In regard to how she may have obtained the drugs my dog has 2 a day for a back problem so thats 60 a month [ just over a tenner] has to see the vet every 6 months to discuss side effects. Theres always a leaflet in the new packs which relate to the human version which they are according to the vet!

the thing is Boris Johnson is the foreign secretary
look how he jesses up with the Woman in Iran Jail..
if i'm in prisons road i hope its not him coming to "help"🙄🤔😱

sorry i mean
messes up

Of course she knew it was illegal - tramadol is only available on prescription, and they will only prescribe one month's supply at a time - so probably 28 tablets at most.

I'm prescribed the maximum dose of 8 tablets a day. For 28 days that's 224 tablets per script. 28 tablets would definitely not last me a whole month! You can't get prescribed more than 8 tablets a day because unlike other opioids there's a ceiling dose for tramadol, due to the seizure risk

I take tramadol as my baseline with oxycodone for breakthrough - so it's not over prescribing, it's what I need under my pain clinic plan. 300 tablets would be an entire month plus a week stockpiled - anyone prescribed a dose like mean gets it because they need their meds, no way I'd have that many in the cupboard lying around.

Serves her right - knowing that other countries aren't as soft and easygoing as England she's stupid to do it. Partner is obviously happy with her taking the risk - she's an idiot to think he'd back her up.

Lots of people on here don't seem to know about private prescriptions. Go online, answer a few questions. Bingo. Private prescription. Not illegal. Not even legally dodgy.

Online Dr services will prescribe a narrow range of drugs

Controlled drugs can only be issued by a prescribing Dr with a physical prescription - electronic scripts aren't permitted

You might be able to find a private Dr with lax ethics who'll prescribe no questions asked

My private pain Dr still has to issued private scripts for opioids using an NHS controlled drugs prescription pad, so his scripts can be tracked

You can buy tramadol without a script from dodgy online overseas pharmacies, but I'd be interested to know which services will issue a private prescription for controlled drugs without a face to face consultation. The prescribing physician would have to be willing to risk their GMC license as their controller drugs prescriptions are trackable

What is the myth that you can only get 28 tramadol a month on prescription here. I get nearly 250 month. You can only get a month at a time but I take 8 a day.

What is the myth that you can only get 28 tramadol a month on prescription here. I get nearly 250 month. You can only get a month at a time but I take 8 a day

That is irrelevant. It does not matter how many or how little you have. Tramadol is only legal in the UK if it is in the possession of and being used by the person to whom it is prescribed.

That is irrelevant. It does not matter how many or how little you have. Tramadol is only legal in the UK if it is in the possession of and being used by the person to whom it is prescribed.

Of course

That isn't in dispute - but some posters have said that it's unfeasible to be in possession of that amount full stop

What she did was 100% illegal and 100% idiotic

But some posters have suggested it's simply impossible to have that many tablets

In good weeks I take much less than I'm prescribed but still fill my monthly script because I can't tell when I'll have good days and bad days (and if there's ever an administrative cock up, I need to have a bit stockpiled away for when I inevitably get cut off my meds because someone didn't double sign it or something). So I've often had several hundred in the cupboard

She clearly was not in this position. She clearly is a moron who deserved to get caught

But some posters have suggested that because they were given a max of 28 tablets that it must be utterly implausible for anyone to be in possession of such a large number

Point taken

Piggy
I don't use FB much and I have patches of different colour skin on my face due to skin picking when I had acne so there aren't many photos of me anywhere.

My FB photos are mainly me with either a dog or a cat so I would look like a crazy dog or cat lady but my parents wouldn't lie about me when describing me.

They say something like "PCL knows that she broke the law and she was very stupid, she is sorry and knows she has to be punished but we object to the jail conditions"

My parents found an eighth of pot on me when I was 14 and they seriously debated calling the police because they thought I should face the consequences at first.

I have checked two of my drugs (methylphenidate and codeine) and even with a prescription , they are illegal in the UAE. I wonder if the same is true in Egypt?

Just because your drugs are prescribed in the UK, I would not presume that means anything in some foreign countries.

bananafish
Sorry to change the subject slightly bug have you ever been to the NHS pain clinic?

I have got an appointment next week and I was just wondering how helpful they are.

my parents wouldn't lie about me when describing me
If daughter was facing jail time I would take advice from her lawyer about what to say ... I would say whatever was most likely to get her the lightest sentence possible

I doubt any lawyer would tell her parents to lie about her lifestyle when there are plenty of photos that contradict the lie.

TBH they would have been better off being quiet or being more careful in what they have said.

Who knows what the lawyer would advise, my point still stands
faced with that sort of situation most parents would just want their child to be treated as leniently as possible and would act accordingly even if that did involve line through their teeth about the character of said child

Lying through their teeth!

I can see this scenario possibly taking place
Boyfriend (phone convo). 'I'm in so much pain etc'
LP My friend at work takes an amazing painkiller which helped her recover, it's called tremadol.
Boyfriend 'you can't get that here'
End of convo, LP thinks, how nice would I be if I brought some over for him to help him recover.
Work colleague has stockpiled and no longer needs them so hands them over (illegal I know).

It is just possible that's how it happened, unfortunate that no one informed her along the way of the legalities nor did she think to look up but it really could've happened. I have said about meds from a country I used to live in that 'you can't get that in the UK anymore due to EU laws but they really work'. Albeit they are over the counter medicines so a different ball game.

I believe everyone has the right of the FO support. She won't be getting any more/less than others but our understanding of their support may be seen as different due to press coverage.

I am trying to get my mind round the thinking behind it all.

You meet a guy, a resident of a different country who complains of back pain.
Presumably he has seen a doctor who didn't prescribe Tramadol. Presumably he was prescribed something else.

I am right in thinking LP had never taken Tramadol, neither, because it is not available in Egypt had her bf.
Who thought Tramadol was the answer (I had never heard of it before dp was in hospital last year)
And didn't LP even ask herself if bf needs Tramadol why can't he get it from his doctor and if not why not.

These are basic questions.