medications rules in Greece
 

I have found out by accident (!) ,and not long before our trip, that Greece is extremely strict with their rules for medications being brought into the country by tourists.
The rules are no more than 2 bottles/packets of each medication, and a maximum of 5 medications per person.
As we are travelling for 11 weeks (from Australia) this time, through 9 countries, and I have to take a lot more than the allowed limit, I have to go to the Greek Consulate in my nearest city here and get my doctors' (yes, more than one!) letters "stamped", though what the stamp means I could not find out. I am in the process of ringing the embassies of all the other countries- so far those I have contacted just require the drs' letters,stating what the meds are and why,and that they are for my personal use. One embassy rep suggested that the letters also have the travel dates included to cover just why I have so much medication with me.(And this is supposed to be my last hurrah in Europe before my health gets any worse!! Now I'm stressed by this conundrum!!)

I hope this will be of help to others caught in the same predicament-I can't be the only one.....

The irony of all this hassle is that once you've arrived in Europe, unless your first EU country is Greece you will have already passed through Passport Control and Customs, and when you arrive in Greece there will be no questions asked or baggage checked. It's the same as if you were taking a domestic flight from Sydney to Melbourne. No questions asked.

Hi

Thanks for the tip. In 2002 we took a codeine based medication into Greece. Unknown to us at the time Codeine was a restricted substance. Yet we purchased the med in Australia "over the counter" prior to departure. So check if the rule on Codeine has been relaxed.

The Australian Embassy website for Greece indicates that codeine is still regarded as a narcotic and hence restrictions apply:

"Note that codeine is considered a narcotic in Greece and should be covered by a doctor's prescription."

The site also outlines the rules that aless_oz mentions - annoying - but better to be safe!

Codeine is Rx only in many places - including the US - since it is a narcotic. (It used to be for distribution by the RPh in small amounts in cough syrup - until kids started drinking the stuff in large quantities.) But - unless you have large amount of meds with you - or narcotics - no one is likely to be interested.

hi aless,

bad luck. I hope you get this sorted out soon.

all countries have their weird rules - i discovered prior to a recent trip that in the UK, you are only allowed to buy one 15 tablet packet of a particular over-the-counter cold remedy at a time - which would last about 2 days if I've got a really bad cold. on enquiring why this should be i was told it was because this particular tablet is used to "cut" certain illegal substances.

so I did what any self-respecting drug dealer would do and went to a nearby chemist and bought another packet!

my DS used to take a prescribed medication for his ADHD which was illegal in many countries - it never occured to me to take a prescription or GP letter with me and no-one ever took any notice.