Thus, any person who chooses to import a single bottle of Nembutal may find themselves facing severe penalties if the amount is deemed to be ‘marketable.’ Another way of turning an importation offence into a major crime would be to tell authorities the drug is for another person as this raises the issue of drug trafficking as opposed to personal use.
Fig 12.11: The pedestrian queue at US customs in Tijuana
Drug laws in some western countries can be incredibly complicated. To compound this lack of clarity, drugs such as barbiturates seem to be of secondary concern. Authorities seem far more interested in substances such as cocaine, cannabis, amphetamines and party drugs such as ecstasy and GHB which are linked with organised crime internationally.