xolotl_tj

Ultrasound is definitely better than the old scraping method -- much faster and doesn't require anesthesia. A bit of a surprise when they hit the gum, though.

Many -- possibly most -- dentists who accept U.S. patients offer all U.S.-style technologies. Mine even claims to use the Waterlase (www.biolase.com). Dr Érico Carreño, one block west of the Calimax in Zona Río, www.drerico.com. Speaks English, takes U.S. insurance, excellent work.

Just one of more than five thousand dentists in the central area of Tijuana to choose from! I have recently interviewed a dozen more I could also recommend.

X

To buy codeine here in Mexico, you will need a triplicate prescription written by a Mexican doctor. Many Mexican doctors will write such a prescription, particularly if you show them a current U.S. prescription. But the Mexican police will not accept a U.S. prescription and possession of codeine without a valid prescription is a criminal offense -- state law, state prison, don't even think about it.

Getting the stuff across the border into the U.S. will require a U.S. prescription. The sovereignty of nations and all that. Even so, if you have the bad luck to get one of those Philippino border guards, you might wind up in Guantanamo as some sort of drug terrorist. Scares the hell out of me just thinking about it.

X

That is not exactly true. There's no law against buying Viagra in Mexico, there's a regulation about selling it. The customer does not need to possess a prescription in order to buy Class IV medications, such as Viagra, but the pharmacy must ensure that the customer has such a prescription or it risks losing its license. Throughout Mexico, though, no one other than a few tourists are concerned about prescriptions for Class IV meds.

Pharmacies have a very powerful lobby along the border and they get to bend a lot of rules. The most notorious one is the requirement that all pharmacies be enclosed by four walls and a door -- take the tourist walk from the border to La Revu and count how many places flout that regulation. Traditional pharmacies are annoyed as hell about it.

I heard that a few months ago the cops started shaking down tourists who were buying Viagra. I don't know if there is any truth to the story. If there is, it's only because tourists are hopelessly gullible about "foreign" countries. I've been in Tijuana for more than thirty years and I've never, ever, needed a prescription to buy a Class IV medication -- I just ask the pharmacist for it and he or she produces it.

Class II and III medications are another story. The pharmacy can get in deep trouble for selling you codeine (class II) or Valium (class III) without a prescription and you would be in criminal violation of the state Health Code for possessing such drugs without the appropriate prescription.  During the presidency of Ernesto Zedillo, the Mexican classes II and III started to look more and more like their U.S. counterparts, so nowadays it's a safe bet that whatever is really illegal in the U.S. is also illegal down here.

By and large, though, most medications that require a prescription in the U.S. fall within Class IV down here. When in doubt, look on the side panel of the medication's box to see what Roman numeral its SSA number ends with.

X

Strange bit of trivia: the company is owned by Plácido Domingo's son.

You buy a ticket from the cashier hard to your left as you enter the place. Two scoops, three scoops, four scoops, or something special. Once you have your ticket in hand, the folks behind the counter will offer you endless free samples.

Their strangest concoctions are at your left; traditional nieves (what the Italians in Philly call "warter ices") are in front of you, and nieves mixed with milk are on your right.

Some offerings have alcohol in them, like their tequila con limón. That one's worth two scoops on its own. Other flavors worth trying are guanabana and zapote negro. Even the more ordinary nieves, like sandía (watermelon), are surprisingly good.

X

Chivas should have mentioned how he or she plans on crossing.

I live right at the border and have been watching it for some years now. Pedestrian crossing is unimpeded up until 6:30am or 7:00am, after which it can take up to two hours. Vehicular crossing takes between one and two hours from dawn to midnight. Sometimes you get lucky. And sometimes it takes four hours.

SENTRI works by its own strange rules. I often see three-hour-long SENTRI lines when normal vehicular traffic takes less than thirty minutes. Generally speaking, however, it is faster than the normal vehicular crossing. The actual SENTRI inspection isn't really faster than the regular inspection, it's just the VIP line to get into the United Snakes Disco and so there are supposed to be fewer people in it.

I gave up trying to cross in a vehicle years ago. Nowadays I cross almost always on foot. Most days from 8:00am to 11:00am is usually bad as are daylight hours during weekends and U.S. holidays. Christmas season is usually glutted by folks going north to buy presents. Crossing as a pedestrian is by and large faster than crossing in a car, however.

Your tax dollars at work.

X