Pharmaceutical products declared by US residents on returning to the United States from Mexico

Abstract

The overall objective of this research project was to measure the types and amounts of Mexican drug products being purchased and declared to US Customs by US residents crossing the border in Laredo, Texas. Data for this study were obtained from the US Customs Declaration Form, which each person completes as he or she reenters the United States. Data included demographic information as well as the types and quantities of medications purchased. Data were collected from a randomly selected sample of 84 days between July 1994 and June 1995. A total of 5624 declaration forms were analyzed. The average age of people who declared medications was 34.5 years. Only 9.3% of the people were 50 years of age or older. Fourteen of the top 15 drug products declared are classified in the United States as “controlled” substances. In examining the quantities of medications being declared, on average 11,057 diazepam tablets were declared each day, which is equivalent to 4,035,842 diazepam tablets per year. On average 4033 tablets of flunitrazepam were declared each day, which is equivalent to 1,472,045 tablets a year declared at one US port of entry. On average, there were 2.48 drug products listed on each declaration form. The majority of the drug products were controlled substances and, based on the types and quantities of products being declared, many questions can be raised with regard to US policies on the control and safety of Mexican drugs coming into the United States.