Buying medication for severe pain in Mexico wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. After spending $400 USD on doctor visits in Mexico and drugs that did nothing to relieve extreme pain in my lower back and right leg, I finally learned how to get relief for severe pain. I’ve had one laminectomy and one discectomy for degenerated disks impinging on both sciatic nerves. My lower right leg was paralyzed for two years with “drop foot.” In other words, I wasn’t seeking opiates to get high. I decided to write this article to help other Americans in my predicament so they don’t waste their money and time.
In Mexico only anesthesiologists (in Spanish – anestesiólogo) are allowed to prescribe strong opioids. Don’t waste your time with any other kind of doctor. Find an office of an anesthesiologist or go to a hospital and ask somebody at the front desk to call one. Hydrocodone pills are not sold in Mexican pharmacies because they are not included in the schedule of controlled substances. Oxycontin / oxycodone is a Group I drug that can be legally sold along with several others listed here 2008 Drug Laws in Mexico, a list like the DEA’s schedules of controlled substances.
Group I Fracc I, II Y III del Articulo 226 de la Ley General de Salud
November 2008, Partial List
ANALFIN S.I., (F.F.Sol.Iny.), Sulfato de morfina (injectable morphine sulfate), 10 mg./1 ml
DEMEROL, Clorhidrato de meperidina (meperidine or pethidine, injectable), 100 mg./2 ml
DUROGESIC (F.F. Parche) Fentanilo (fentanyl patches) 2.5,5,7.5 y 10 mg
ANAMORPH Sulfato de morfina (morphine pills) 10 y 25 mg
LIBERAXIM Clorhidrato de hidromorfona (hydromorphone, Palladone, Palladone SR, Dilaudid pills) 2 y 4 mg
MST CONTINUS Sulfato de morfina (MS Contin pills) 10,30 y 60 mg
OXYCONTIN Clorhidrato de oxicodona 10,20 y 40 mg
PLEXICODIM Clorhidrato de oxicodona (oxycodone tablets) 5 mg with Paracetamol 325 mg
RUBIDEXOL (F.F.Tabletas) Clorhidrato de metadona (methadone pills) 5 y 10 mg.
In Mexico I was prescribed injectable morphine and Duragesic® transdermal fentanyl patches. A Mexican doctor mentioned morphine sulphate tabs (possibly MS Contin), however, he didn’t prescribe them to me. Perhaps he believed that I needed immediate relief from excruciating pain. Unlike pharmacies in the United States, only pharmacies like Farmacias Especializadas have morphine for sale to the public, and you will only find such pharmacies in big cities and state capitals. Although I had a prescription for two 200mg bottles of Amalfin morfina ($40 US/200mg which lasts about two days), the only pharmacy, Farmacias Especializadas, in the city of San Luis Potosi in the state of San Luis Potosi that sells it could only sell me one bottle because they had no more in stock. I bought the last available bottle in the whole state of San Luis Potosi. When I asked when I could buy the second bottle, I was told that the laboratory would not be shipping morphine the following week, as if there were only one lab that produces it, and sporadically. Of course the hospitals where surgeries occur have it, but only for patients in beds. The hospital pharmacies won’t sell their morphine supplies to the public, even if you have the right prescription. Below is a copy of what a valid, real prescription looks like. It is olive green with black horizontal lines from top to bottom that didn’t reproduce when I scanned it for this article. The doctor’s name, address, and professional license number were obscured for the doctor’s safety and to prevent forgery. It is on paper supplied only by the Secretaria de Salud of the Mexican government. Although regular Mexican M.D.s can prescribe some weak narcotics, only anesthesiologists can prescribe fentanyl transdermal (Duragesic) patches and morphine, the “gold standard” in Anesthesiology.
Black tar heroin (“chiva” or “la negra”) is available in the large cities, especially near the northern border, however, I don’t recommend it because it is dirty and because users tend to inject into their veins, destroying and collapsing veins. It goes for $30 US/gram in the border cities. There is a place in Mexico, Guasave, Sinaloa, where heroin laboratories are located where a gram of heroin can be bought for $150 pesos or $12. The opium poppy fields are in the hills not far away. The U.S. government boosted opium production in Sinaloa during World War II because Japan controlled most of the opium supply and the U.S. military needed morphine for our injured soldiers and asked Mexico for help. See PBS Frontline: The Place Mexican Drug Kingpins Call Home. Should you go there I recommend passing the city of Los Mochis and staying on the freeway since the cops there love to single out vehicles with U.S. license plates to ostensibly give a ticket for a driving violation, but what they really want is some money ($200 pesos is enough) to let you continue your trip. While driving through the state of Sinaloa you should also visit the state capital Culiacan, a pretty city, and Mazatlan. Sinaloa’s intense agricultural business and its pine covered sierras reminded me of my home state, California (See A Gringo’s Mexican Experience for more information about taking a road trip to Mexico).
In conclusion, don’t go to Mexico expecting to find opiate pain killers with hydrocodone like Vicodin® and Norco® or Percodan® and Percocet® (oxycodone) in pharmacies. The muscle relaxant Soma® (carisoprodol) and the useless so-called pain-reliever Ultram® (tramadol) are sold over-the-counter (OTC) in Mexico, and they are very cheap. However, the carisoprodol is compounded with naproxen and the capsules contain 200mg of carisoprodol. For me, tramadol isn’t effective for pain relief, however, your mileage may vary. If you plan to travel to Mexico bring your own supply of pain killers, with a valid prescription, in sufficient quantity to last the duration of your trip.
Valid Mexican prescription for injectable morphine. Receta en papel de la Secretaria de Salud verdadero, válido para morfina inyectable para dolor severo.
PS. The United States Government does not recognize Mexican prescriptions. If you attempt to bring any bottles of morphine with you back to the U.S.A., you must show them to the customs or I.C.E. agents, who might take them from you. Otherwise you will go to jail for a long time if caught. Same goes for fentanyl patches that are not stuck to your body. How many American medical doctors do you know who prescribe liquid injectable morphine for their patients to buy at the local Walgreens pharmacy?
On another note, buying opiates from offshore pharmacies is risky because the U.S. Postal Service inspectors will open packages from foreign drug companies and they may confiscate any medicine requiring a prescription. Furthermore, there are many scammers spamming search engines with links to offshore pharmacies and membership websites, and their drug prices tend to be triple the cost you would pay at your local pharmacy. Any reputable, honest drug store wouldn’t require a membership fee, it wouldn’t spam search engines, and its prices would be competitive.
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