Travel and Vaping Caution when vaping in Saudi Arabia!

[RIAFlight25]

Well, so it turns out I had my first REALLY freaky run in while vaping overseas.

I was walking through an open air market in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and was getting some very odd looks, being used to this, I continued to vape while I looked around.

I was just gettting ready to leave and was stopped by 3 Saudi police and got the infamous "Could you please come with me?" Knowing better than to argue with Saudi police, I obliged. I was shown the way to their SUV and asked to empty my pockets... they told me that people had seen me using DRUGS!!!

I thought "This is bad....really bad" I got the run around for almost an hour, all the time I tried with all I had to explain the ins and outs of electronic cigarettes. Needless to say, they werent buying it at all.

After smelling my liquid, and trying my janty stick, they stil werent convinced and called in two more officers. Luckily one of my friends who was a local saw this going down and came to my assistance.

Long story short, all my liquids were confiscated, and they demanded to know my full name and what hotel I was staying at. Luckily I dont fly there often (first time back in over a year) and I was flying back to Europe that night.

Just a caution, please be careful in questionable areas and countries... some countries make up the laws as they go along and have detrimental penalties for arguing with the law. Just do as they ask, and dont trry to talk you way out of it.

Just thought some might like to be informed of this!

Happy vaping and SAFE safe travels!

 

[Cori]

Woah that's pretty scary. I'm glad that it all turned out well for you. Great advice.

 

[wv2win]

That is scary. We take so much for granted here in the US. Glad you got out OK!

 

[OutWest]

Yikes! Sorry to hear. That had to have been very nerve wracking and frightening, Glad to hear that you (and your friend) managed to get yourself safely out of the situation.

You'd think they'd realize you would have enough sense to not use illegal drugs in the open at the marketplace *shaking head*

 

[PTJD]

Hey there RIA, close call there! I don't go to Jakarta anymore but I would not be vaping in public there also! Good to see you back safely!

 

[JustJulie]

So how bad is it that my first thought was, "I sure hope he has more liquids at the hotel"?

Seriously, I appreciate your sharing this information. We do, indeed, take a great deal for granted. I'm very, very grateful indeed that they didn't decide to pursue things further.

 

[RIAFlight25]

Thanks for all the concern guys! I am safely back in Germany now back in vaping bliss!

Julie.... thats funny u say that, cause my first thought was "Thank god I only had some eastmall menthol in my pocket and all my AWESOME vapes back in my room!" Talk about bad prioritizing! ;-P

One adventure down, where will the next be???

Safe travels!

 

[Mary Kay]

And here I was worried about vaping in a courthouse! RIA, I am so happy you are all right! Maybe we should start a fund for you in case you need bail money next time..or a rescue!!!

 

[MicBang]

In your case, it is good not to use a syringe to refill 8-o

 

[MissVapor]

that is really scarey..do they have internet? You could of showed them a couple of sites so they wouldve understood...

 

[chad]

Great story! Scary at the time, I'm sure, but great story now that you're back.

Hey, I bet there'd be no problem at all vaping in China! I just got back from there in the middle of June but next time I go back I'll vape everywhere (and pick up some gear in Shenzhen)!

 

[TheUltimateG]

them fools went back to the cop shop, ordered up a 510 and are vaping your Eastmall as we speak, LOL.

All joking aside, your lucky they let you keep the E-cig.

 

[aidenunder]

id be ...... about my liquid maybe some suppliers can donate some to you

 

[Carlos49]

Well just think it could have turned realy ugly very fast. Glad to hear all went well for you and that your back in germay vaping away.

Chad: you might want to do some checking because I have heard that , in China, the e-cigs are not allowed in certain parts. I'm not 100% on that but it had something to do with their tax on annalogs and them loosing money so they outlawed the use of e-cigs in certain parts. Like I said I might be wrong on that but you might want to check it out.

 

[Cloud9Smoking.com]

Scary story. It is only a matter of time before the e-cig picks up there IMO. We actually just had our first Saudi Arabian customer last week. Interestingly enough, outside of the US, the largest amount of traffic we have gotten on our site is from Saudi Arabia.

 

[RIAFlight25]

Well, unfortunatelly theres a lot of logistics as to why I was there in the first place, which doesnt make for a good situation.

From what I know... ecigs are not illegal per se in Saudi, but like I said before... When in situations like that, its easier to surrender whatever they are asking for. They coulda had my JS for all I cared! I just wanted out!

I'll be a little more careful in questionable countries the next time!

As for China, I vaped openly in Guangzhou with no problems, however this was before they began their bans I believe.

 

[framitz]

It's interesting that e-cigs are not legal, but the hookahs on the side walk are popular. When I was there with the Air Force we were forbidden from trying the hookahs. The stuff they smoke seems like some kind of nasty fruit paste, we called it hubbly bubbly. We had a Captain that tried it anyway and he said it was like sucking on a diesel exhaust pipe and it gave him a terrible head ache (maybe carbon monoxide from the piece of charcoal they use to keep it burning). I always wondered what was in that stuff, I saw it in cans in the market area, the cans were corroded around the lids, the stuff looked downright evil. E-cigs are surely safer than that stuff.

 

[Jim Davis]

Well, unfortunatelly theres a lot of logistics as to why I was there in the first place, which doesnt make for a good situation.

From what I know... ecigs are not illegal per se in Saudi, but like I said before... When in situations like that, its easier to surrender whatever they are asking for. They coulda had my JS for all I cared! I just wanted out!

I'll be a little more careful in questionable countries the next time!

As for China, I vaped openly in Guangzhou with no problems, however this was before they began their bans I believe.

Well, ya got more guts than I do, RIA. When I leave the country, I vape in front of no one.

 

[PTJD]

Well, ya got more guts than I do, RIA. When I leave the country, I vape in front of no one.

Ah, JD ya wimp!
In the last 10 months I've vaped in public in Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Israel, Austria, Germany, Sweden and Denmark!
Just need to be careful in certain countries.

 

[robbiehatfield]

Glad you're okay. Sure would have hated to see a fellow vapor on an episode of 'Locked Up Abroad'.....

Good thing you're not a woman too! They might have stoned you to death. (or is that in Iran?) They're about 1000 years behind the rest of the world in their treatment of females from all I hear?

Robbie