Yeah I can’t imagine storing meds in the glove box or on the dash board (I assume that’s what is meant by “console.”) they should be in their labeled container, inside a bathroom kit, and inside your closed suitcase.
Hey, I started with Progressive, then saved $400 bucks by swithching to GEICO, then another $400 by switching back to Progressive, then back to GIECO…you get the picture. After four or five iterations of this, now they’re sending me a check for $1600 every time my insurance comes up for renewal.
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My suggestion is to identify the jurisdiction and figure out who the boss is, so you know who to complain to, then send in a written complaint.
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And, having slogged through the OP, have someone do a spelling and grammar check before you send it. Sheesh.
I have an friend who is a cop (I try not to hold it against him), and I was surprised when he told me that cops can confiscate pills that are not in an original labeled container. I’ll have to ask him how long they are held and what the procedure is to get them back.
After giving our conversation on the matter more thought, the phrase “to a hammer, everything looks like a nail” comes to mind. To a cop, I suppose, “everybody looks like a crook” or “everything looks like evidence of a crime”.
Keep pills in an original container, keep them out of sight, and don’t let the cops search your car without a warrant.
ISTR hearing that it is in fact a felony to store Rx meds in anything but the properly labelled bottle in which they were given to you at the pharmacy. This source claims it’s true in Michigan, and I expect it’s likely true in many/most/all other states as well. Assuming that’s true, it stands to reason that they can confiscate the improperly stored Rx drugs as evidence of the aforementioned felony.
That can’t be true. How can those same pharmacies/drug stores sell those pill storage containers then?
If you take a lot of prescription medication, the labeled boxes/jars can take up a LOT of space. For holidays I’d have to use about half of my carry-on baggage allowance (in size, not weight) to carry my medication in their original packets. (Painkillers or other medication liable to overdose tend to be prescribed in artificially large pills, to discourage overdose). Putting them in hold luggage would be a very bad idea for obvious reasons.
And getting smaller labelled containers isn’t always an option for prescription drugs - the containers would have to have the date on, for a start, and would a two year old label really be acceptable? I doubt it; you’d have to get that extra jar every three months or so. For every medication.
All that said, I can understand the drugs being confiscated if they’re not labelled, but they certainly should be released again afterwards when you go back with prescriptions or get a letter emailed/faxed over from your doctor. If you’re on holiday it might not actually be possible to get them refilled before you go home and missing some drugs could have terrible repercussions.
The (center) console is the part of the dashboard that continues down and back between the seats and over the transmission tunnel, and usually contains the handbrake, gear shift lever, armrest, etc.
If you’re talking about those seven-day pill organizers, it’s not a felony to sell or buy those containers, and it’s not a felony to store OTC vitamins and OTC meds in them. Prescription meds are another story.
I would guess that a reasonable cop wouldn’t give you any trouble if you had such an organizer loaded with mundane prescription meds like Lipitor or Wellbutrin, and you had stored it near the original prescription bottle (e.g. both items in a suitcase or purse together). But an UNreasonable cop would apparently be within his authority to give you a very hard time for it, which is why your interests are best served by not presenting any cop with an opportunity to give you a hard time.
And going to the far extreme: if you’ve got a 7-day pill organizer sitting on the passenger seat next to you during a traffic stop, and each of its compartments is packed with Vicodin, and you don’t have the original labeled prescription bottle anywhere nearby, you should expect a trip to jail.
What he/she/it said. I was warned by my doctor (who knows I travel a lot) to carry the original pill bottles with me in addition to the 7 day stick I use to keep track of everything ----- just in case. I even do that with my nitro; I have a small vacuum holder for 4-6 on my key ring but the bottle in the car or somewhere nearby just in case I’m asked.
The Washington Post has a related story today on cops seizing cash from motorists:
That’s not really related. Rx pills are not seized under asset forfeiture laws because they can never be dispensed again and have no value (for legal transactions anyway).
It falls under the general topic of “cops have the authority to take stuff from you during traffic stops and make it a major pain in the ass for you to get it back.”
As mentioned previously, a pharmacy will print you a label if you want to store your meds in something other than the little plastic bottle they provide. There are some fancy new medication dispensers with multiple compartments and flashing lights to tell you what to take when. One of the design considerations is making them large enough to stick multiple labels on. Pharmacies will balk at refilling them if there’s no room for the label.
Meh…I don’t really understand the confusion.
Prescription drugs are controlled substances which must be stored and labeled properly for legal as well as health reasons.
How would anybody identify the drug, dosage, and owner otherwise? We’re not just talking cops here, you can’t expect a friend, family member, or an ER doctor to sift through your pillbox while you’re on a slab.
In Indiana, we are able to get blister packs made at the pharmacy that are labeled, and have single doses in each blister, so that people who have trouble remembering to take meds from a bottle can use the blister packs, and you can tell with a glance whether you had your AM dose for the day. It may be that you need a good reason, like low literacy, or something, to have those made, but I never had any trouble when I made the request on behalf of a client; of course, if you daily living coordinator if making the request, because you have one in the first place, they may not ask any questions.
As far as using those daily/weekly packs the pharmacy sells, you can use them in your house. The problem more has to do with having unlabeled meds in your car or in your suitcase when you board a plane.
thats why its my only post. I saw the forum and subscribed and posted hoping someone would have some good advice, thats all.
They were all in my and her containers, and clearly the police weren’t worried about intoxication as they didn’t give sobriety tests or any ticket at all, they just pulled us over and saw the pills bottles and took them. I gave them all the paperwork showing they were legally ours and they had our names on them. Now they won’t give them back. And I got no record of what they took or how many of each kind, The Sergeant said the rookie cop made a mistake telling me that I needed to get the papers and he would give them back and meet me, my doctor is more than on our side but he doesn’t want to get in trouble writing out 6 new prescriptions he just wrote out a week ago, not too mention the insurance won’t cover them either… and as one poster commented they were anxiety medications and suboxone strips. But I’ve been told so many different things by this police station, I don’t know what to believe. I thought maybe a lawyer could go in and get them back, with better results than me or my girlfriend.
they were all in my official RX bottles and her RX bottles in the large pit of the console, they weren’t in any containers or all mixed up or anything, If they tell u they aren’t confiscating them, they don’t give u any tickets, and then lie to you that all u need is the documentation from the pharmacy and they will give them back, thats why I feel robbed. Shouldn’t I have gotten some form showing exactly what they took and how many and had me sign it???
This has nothing to do with pill containers or daily organizers. Thats why we never got a ticket or went to jail, they just flat out took all our medications(3 weeks worth) and then lied about providing RX documents and giving them back. Everything was in official RX bottles with my name and hers with her name. They had no right to take them, if they said she was driving erratic wouldn’t they have given her a sobriety test? Just a joke and mess…
If they were in the original containers, I don’t see how or why the cops took them. It sounds like you have called the police station and are getting different answers. I would try writing a letter to the police chief or whoever is in charge and request your property back immediately. Be polite, but firm, and ask for an immediate return phone call. If you don’t hear within a couple of days, figure out how to file an official complaint. You may need a lawyer to figure out exactly what to do, but you’d have to weigh that cost against the cost of the medicine.
The police get away with all sorts of stuff they shouldn’t because citizens are intimidated and don’t hold them accountable. Unfortunately, it costs time and money to fight city hall.
I would think so. Perhaps your drugs were simply stolen by the cops. Hopefully a lawyer or cop will be by to help you decide what to do.