Travelling abroad with your medicine.

Can I take my medicine anywhere in the UK?

Yes. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: no problem. Carry your medicine in its original pharmacy packaging with the label on, and have a copy of your prescription with you, especially if you're flying. Security staff at UK airports see prescribed cannabis-based medicines regularly; being organised makes it a thirty-second conversation.

What do I need to take my medicine out of the UK?

On the UK side, two things: the medicine in your hand luggage, and proof that it's yours. Cannabis-based medicines are controlled drugs, so taking them out of the country comes under Home Office rules. The Home Office says you must carry medicine containing a controlled drug in your hand luggage, and that you should be able to prove it's yours with a prescription or a letter from your clinician. A letter from your prescriber giving your name, your travel dates, and the names, doses and quantities of your medicines is the clearest way to do that, and your clinic will know what to write. If you'll be away for a long time, or need to carry a large supply, contact the Home Office's Drug and Firearms Licensing Unit well before you travel: its guidance asks people to email it for advice on leaving the UK with controlled drugs.

One thing to be clear about: UK paperwork only helps you leave and come back into the UK. It gives you no right to bring the medicine into another country, and the Home Office warns that you could be fined or imprisoned for travelling with medicine that is illegal where you're going.

Who decides whether I can take a cannabis-based medicine abroad?

The country you're going to decides. This is the part that matters. Every country has its own law, and a UK prescription means nothing in a country where cannabis is simply illegal. In some places, including several popular holiday and transit destinations in the Middle East and Asia, possession of any cannabis product, prescribed or not, carries severe penalties, and travellers have been detained for medicines they were prescribed at home. Even changing planes can count as bringing it in. Other countries do allow prescribed cannabis-based medicines with the right documentation, but "the right documentation" varies from a doctor's letter to a formal import permit applied for in advance, and the rules change.

So: before you commit to a trip, contact the embassy or consulate of every country you'll enter or transit, ask specifically about prescribed cannabis-based medicines containing THC, and get the answer in writing if you can. The UK government's foreign travel advice pages are a good starting point, but they won't cover every medicine. If the answer is no, or unclear, don't take it. Being right in principle is little help once you're abroad.

If you can take it

Keep it in the original pharmacy packaging with your name on the label, and keep it in your hand luggage, never the hold. Take only what the trip needs. Carry your prescription copy and your clinic letter, and any permit the destination requires, in the same bag. If your medicine comes with a battery-powered device, remember that lithium batteries have to go in hand luggage too, and that using the device in airports, on aircraft or in public places abroad is likely to be illegal even where the medicine isn't. Declare it if you're asked what medicines you're carrying; hiding it turns a paperwork issue into a smuggling one.

Don't post it ahead, don't ask a friend to carry it, and don't buy cannabis abroad to cover a gap, however legal it looks locally; you'd be bringing an uncontrolled product back into the UK without a prescription for it.

If you can't take it

Talk to your clinic well in advance. A break from your medicine may need planning, whether that's a gradual reduction, a bridging plan with other treatment, or simply advice on what to expect. Some patients time their trips around their prescriptions; some decide the destination isn't worth it. Both are reasonable. What isn't reasonable is stopping suddenly the night before a flight and hoping for the best.

A short checklist

Embassy answer, in writing, for every country including transit. Clinic letter with names, dates and quantities. Advice from the Home Office's licensing unit if you're away for a long time or carrying a large supply. Original packaging, hand luggage, only what you need. Prescription copy with you. A plan from your clinic if you're leaving the medicine at home. It's a bit of admin, and it's a great deal less than the alternative.