Japan: Your ADHD Medication Is a Felony
In 2015, an American woman was jailed in Japan after her prescribed Adderall was mailed to her from the United States. She hadn't smuggled it through a border. Someone sent it to her. That was enough.
Japan classifies stimulant-based ADHD medications — Adderall, Ritalin, Vyvanse, and others — as kakuseizai, or stimulant drugs, under the Stimulants Control Law. Foreign prescriptions carry no legal weight.
There are no exemptions, no medical defenses, no diplomatic workarounds. Bringing these medications into Japan, receiving them by mail, or even transiting through a Japanese airport with them in your bag is a criminal offense that can result in imprisonment.
ADHD diagnoses have increased sharply across the US and Europe over the past decade, meaning more people are traveling with these medications than ever before — most of them unaware that Japan won't hesitate to jail them.
China: Legal at Home Means Nothing at the Border
In 2024, Volkswagen's CMO for China was deported from the country following a drug test. The case, reported by the Financial Times and Campaign Asia, was remarkable because of what it illustrated: China's drug laws apply to everyone, regardless of corporate rank, diplomatic relationships, or what's legal in your home country.
China operates a zero-tolerance drug policy with no meaningful exceptions. Substances that are decriminalized or fully legal in parts of Europe, North America, or elsewhere are treated as serious criminal offenses. There is no framework for medical exemptions that would satisfy Chinese law, and there is no leniency extended based on foreign legal standards.
The risk isn't limited to obvious scenarios. Travelers have faced consequences for trace amounts of substances in their bloodstream at entry. The legal exposure begins the moment you land, regardless of where or when consumption occurred.
The practical implication: what you do before your trip can determine what happens to you when you arrive.
Dubai: Risks Ignorant Tourists Face
Dubai's reputation for strict laws often gets reduced to jokes about public displays of affection. The reality is more serious and less obvious.
Alcohol consumption is legal in licensed venues in Dubai, but drinking in public spaces, on beaches, or in unlicensed areas can result in arrest. Being visibly intoxicated in public, even after leaving a licensed venue, has led to detentions. The line between legal and illegal consumption is defined by location, not behavior.
More significantly, social media is treated as a legal jurisdiction. Tourists have been arrested for posts critical of the UAE government, its leadership, or its institutions — including posts made before arriving in the country. Content that would be protected speech in Europe or the United States can constitute a criminal offense under UAE cybercrime law.
Drug enforcement is absolute. Trace amounts of controlled substances (including amounts detectable only through blood or urine tests) are sufficient for prosecution. This applies at airport entry, regardless of when or where consumption occurred.