I’m sure we’ve all heard that eating poppy seeds can lead to a false positive for opiates on a drug test, but that’s not a big deal right? You could easily explain the situation and do a more accurate test and move on with you life right? Maybe so in the right circumstance, but try to bring poppy seeds across the boarder of a country, and look out.
The Times has reported a Swiss person has been arrested in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) because airport security found “three poppy seeds on his clothing after he ate a bread roll at Heathrow airport.” That’s right. THREE SEEDS! Sorry, but I cannot believe that even in a country like UAE they would arrest someone for three seeds… FROM HIS BREAKFAST!
Fair Trials International, a charity which aids those facing trials abroad, issued a warning after several arrests of visitors to Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The arrests stated that “carrying some foodstuffs and common over-the-counter medications” could warrant a four year sentence in UAE prisons. Foods containing poppy seeds, melatonin (a medication for jetlag), codein (a common pain relief medication), and trace amounts of cannabis are included on the list of banned substances.
Really, I think that it is fair for a country to have regulations like this as to what may or may not enter their country, but I think that they are being quite extreme for arresting someone for three seeds. I don’t even understand how they could have found those seeds—I guess their airport security is much more thorough than ours. Let’s just hope that Swiss guy gets out okay.
so My boyfriend went to see his grandparents over the summer, and when he got there he realized that there was a butcher Knife in his suitcase (it had gotten there from our move into our new apt) and somehow forgot about it and was able to bring it home with him. I was Mortified. I told him "dont you hear about those people who die in airports for having a pocket knife?" and on top of it he has a heart disease. You cannot even imagine the look on my face. None the less looking back it was funny because of how i reacted and that nothing happened to him thank GOD.
Once upon a time in my little mind.
By me Kaity Kat
... I believe he's allowed to have a knife in his suitcase.
Just not in his carry-on or on his person.
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You are the Voice of the Childwen of the Revowution! [Toulouse, Moulin Rouge]
Wow. That's crazy. At least FTI has said something to try and keep future arrests from happening.
I think it is an overly zealous security team that looks for the "seed in the haystack"- trying to justify their own existence and authority
I think that it's apparent from my blog that I do think that this is going too far, but in the defense of the security team, poppies are used to create opiates, and it's fair for a country to want to keep them out, but crumbs? Really?