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DEAR DIANA

Carrying homeopathic remedies is difficult now when traveling by air. Last week a security woman in Honolulu swabbed my four bottles of homeopathic medicine as well as the baggie I had them in, then swatch tested, I suppose, for drugs and so forth.

At the next airport I had to go through, LAX, I kept the baggie with my remedies in my pocket, but a security guy noticed the bulge and said I had to put it through X-ray. I said I couldn't and asked to speak with a supervisor. The supervisor said about 4 months ago they changed the rules and now homeopathics have to go through X-ray, but it's such low level of X-ray that it does not damage it.

I didn't believe him and told him that I had already avoided the X-ray with the permission of security people in Chicago, Atlanta, and Minneapolis. But he was adamant and wouldn't let me through without the X-ray.

I usually take with Arnica 200C, a big dose in case of an accident. It's for shock, pain, bleeding. It's also for overstress of muscles, such as when my 50-year-old cousin played volleyball for hours with the 20 year olds and teens! (He couldn't even lift his arm to shave until I gave him a dose of 200C Arnica.)

I also carry Ledum salve and pellets for my husban who is allergic to mosquito bites. Once on a canoe trip, a friend went into the woods to potty and came out with a bite (probably spider) that was swelling her entire upper leg. We tried ledum salve on that and it worked.

I also carry other things, depending on what I'm treating at the time.

I really felt strongly that I didn't want to put my bottles through the X-ray, so I left the security area and went to the Ladies Room. SoI decided to see if I could get away with not having my homeopathics X-rayed. The reason I felt so strongly about this is because I heard that homeopathic products lose potency when X-rayed at airport security.

In the airport Ladies Room, I put my extra pair of panties on top of the pair I had on, then placed my bottles of homeopathic remedies between the two panties.

Back at the same Security checkpoint, I was immediately pulled over and my luggage was thouroughly searched by hand. I had left one remedy at the top of my backpack, the easiest replaced remedy, which I felt I could sacrifice to this so-called "security" exercise.

They X-rayed it, of course, and I threw it out. But I wonder what would have happened to me if they had decided to search me further? Please enlighten me.

Lorraine

DIANA RESPONDS

Dear Lorraine,

Thank you very much for your question.

First of all, carrying anything hidden in your panties through Security is very foolish. Peassengers have been detained, searched, and missed their flights for less. You risk being imprisioned.

Secondly, usually there are several Security checkpoints in every airport. I wonder why you went back to the same one.

Regarding the "swatch tested." I believe it is for explosives. One of the first acts of TSA was to purchase 4,700 explosive trace detection (ETD) machines. The TSA fact sheet says, "the machines are relatively low cost"-$40,000 each. $188 million is low cost !

Here's how they work. A security person swipes a passenger's bag with a piece of cloth without any chemicals on it. This has been done to my bag about half a dozen times and not once was the piece of cloth fresh--it was always a dirty looking scrap of cloth, which totally astounded me.

The ETD machine then ostensibly analyzes the cloth for explosives. In addition to terrorists who may have explosive residue on their bags, the ETD machine will also beep for passengers who take nitroglycerin as heart medication.

It's not hard to imagine a lawsuit on behalf of a traveling heart patients, who was accused of carrying a bomb, and had a heart attack in front of the ETD machine.

There is controversy on whether homeopathic remedies lose potency when X-ray, just as there is controversy whether humans lose potency (and vitality) when exposed to X-ray. I am on the side of those who believe that X-ray should be used very judiciously, like when you're having a tooth ache, but not as a preventative. Homeopaths who agree with me say the remedies are ruined by X-ray because they contain live enzymes from plants which get damaged by radiation.

Personally, I have not found even Arnica helpful to me -- and I don't do well with sugar any more and the homeopathic remedies I have seen all contain sugar. I think some remedies resonnate with some people. A friend of mine told me she has better luck with comfrey for sprains and shock, and I personally have good luck with noni.

With loving regards,
Diana Fairechild