tablets not allowed in Dubai

[Bex2]

Are there any tablets that I cannot take into Dubai? eg. paracetemol, ibuprofen. Or is there a list of tablets I cannot take??

[jno]

never heard of any, and nobody's ever checked what I've had when I've gone there. It's extremely accustomed to westerners and their headaches. 

[scubadiver]

I would urge caution about taking certain types of painkillers - There was a well publicised case a few weeks ago of a Western woman being held for having painkillers with something like codeine in them. I'll try & find out exactly what tablets were involved.

[scubadiver]

More info- apparently codeine  is illegal in the UAE, so any type of painkiller containing codeine (including several that are freely available over the counter in the UK etc) could potentially cause problems

PS - Temazepam is also illegal apparently

[Bex2]

Thanks very much guys!

Thats a great help to me...I'm off to Borneo in November, but have to travel through Dubai first and I wanted to take some pain killers with me because of the humidity in Borneo, so I will check out the ingredients in the tablets before I pack them! Thanks very much! Let me know if you find out about anything else! 

[jno]

yikes, didn't know about that case - sorry if I misled you Bex. The Foreign office website says to get in touch with these people for more detail: UAE

I've been there three times in the last 10 years and nobody checked what medicines I was carrying. The woman in question had traces of codeine and temazepam in her urine, and there seems to be some suggestion that she'd actually been prescribed these in Dubai, but that's unclear. Anyway, you're right to be cautious.