Is it possible to determine the age of amphetamine-based pills?

Factual Questions
1

A couple years ago my life crossed paths with a truly insane and deeply disturbed person who, for a short while, was my girlfriend. When I ended it, she stalked me and harassed me in a number of ways (some might remember the thread I started where she got access to my fb and other accounts and locked me out for 5 days).

The worst though was her telling the police that I’m bringing in amphetamines from the US (to Germany) to sell. I have ADHD and so I did, in fact, bring amphetamine-based meds into the country quite legally. But, on her word, the police raided my home and they found some very old Adderall which I never use (because Dexadrine works better). Still I never throw out old pills in case of an emergency. These particular Adderall were from 2005 of which I still have the original bottle with the printed prescription info. But I need the court to believe this.

Is there a way through chemical testing of some sort to show the age of the pills? Even if only to show that they’re more than 2 or 3 years old would be enough, I think.

2

Not likely, unless the manufacturer has changed the formula since you got the pills. Even if they contain some compound which degrades, the rate of degradation would depend enormously upon storage conditions (temp. , humidity, oxygen etc.)

I should think that the burden of proof is with the police/prosecutor, though?

3

I believe it is, but my goal at this point is to get it thrown out before actually having to go to court. The court at this point is still saying there’s enough doubt to continue with a trial.

(somewhat ironically, one of their objections to my defense so far is that they don’t believe that other pills they found could be from a prescription I showed them dated 2012 because why would I still have them? Of course, if I was a drug dealer/abuser I most certainly wouldn’t, or else I’d be quite bad at it).

4

Check with a pharmacist. Perhaps the stamp on the pill or capsule has changed.

5

Unfortunately I’m fairly certain it didn’t. But even if it did, I couldn’t check on my end because all of the pills are in possession of the court.

6

Is this happening to you in Germany or the United States, and are you a citizen of the other country? In that case perhaps your consulate may be able to help.

Shouldn’t both sides in the process be able to examine any admitted evidence, namely the pills/capsules in question? Or at least adequately detailed photos of them?

7

ETA: I missed where you said it hadn’t gone to court yet.

As a last resort, would letters from the doctor who prescribed them for you and the pharmacist who dispensed them be of any help?

8

It isn’t clear why proving the pills are from 2005 would help. You either have them legally or you don’t.

But you may be able to determine the approximate age from the national drug code directory.

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/ndc/default.cfm

For example here is Adderall 1.25mg tablets manufactured after 12/18/2013

And here are the same tablets and dosage manufacured after 8/11/2008

Different Labeler name and NDC code for the same medication at the same dosage based on two different manufacture dates.

9

I think the idea is to demonstrate that the old tablets and the old container, with the 2005 prescription label, belong together. Otherwise the police seem inclined to suspect the OP of using the old bottle to store a controlled substance illegally possessed and obtained more recently.

10

Oops, forgot to follow up here. Just to respond in case anyone’s curious:
I’m a US citizen and this happened in Germany where I currently live.

Yes Spectre has it right. Basically my lawyer wrote a letter to the court submitting a copy of a prescription I had from 2012. The court responded that it wasn’t clear why I would still have the same pills in my possession from a prescription from 2012 (among other objections). Other pills they confiscated (blue Adderall) were in a separate container from the original bottle (which was from 2005).

I honestly don’t have much confidence in my lawyer’s competence and the language barrier between us makes things even more difficult (my German is decent but a lot of nuance gets lost). So I’ve taken things largely into my own hands and crafted a letter explaining every detail (it’s actually quite complicated since there are a few different types of pills involved and they’re not approved meds in Germany). I’ve included a letter from my US doctor, as well as documents from my German doctor, prescription info, other stuff…

But now it’s up to my lawyer to get the court to actually look at it before the court date in less than 2 weeks. Making this whole thing an order of magnitude more stressful is that my mom is coming the day before the court date to visit. I’d like to spend my time planning for her visit, but instead I’m stressing about this legal crap.

11

What’s unclear to me is why it matters to them that you have nine year old pills. I suppose this turns on the question of whether drug laws prohibit consumers from retaining controlled substances beyond a stated duration from the point when the pharmacist sells them to you. Is there a law to that effect over there? AFAIK there’s nothing like that on this side, other than that those caring for terminal patients are required to dispose of any leftover narcotics.

Can you get a different lawyer, one who’s fluent in English?

12

Immediate release amphetamines have only about a four-hour effective duration after you take them, so having some pills in a different container to carry with you, when you’re away from the house, is absolutely S.O.P. for ADD’ers. Make sure the court is aware of this.

13

Well, I think this is unclear to me too. I believe legally as a tourist you can bring into the country a 3 month supply of any medication you need (generally). But what happens if you come as a tourist, get a job and stay (all legally), and have some old meds lying around. This is more or less the situation. Making it more complicated, Adderall is not approved in Germany, and I think the attitude in Europe in general regarding medical use of amphetamines has been much more (overly) cautious than in the US and Canada.

So, from the court’s point of view, we’ve got a witness claiming that a guy is bringing amphetamines into the country to distribute. We raid his apartment and find 3 different types of pills, all testing positive for amphetamines. My lawyer sends them a copy of a 2012 prescription which actually doesn’t even match any of the pills they found.
Can you get a different lawyer, one who’s fluent in English?
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The court date is in one week, so not at this point. When the cops raided my place I was in the US. I told my German girlfriend (not the psycho) at the time to get me a lawyer who is: 1. very good 2. Speaks English very well. I’m not impressed on either account.

14

I have indeed made this point very clearly in my letter.

15

  1. Get a letter from you doctor that matches the pills they found. Get a letter from the pharmacist matching the pills they found.

  2. Get a letter from every doctor and pharmacist you have been to over the years, detailing every prescription written and filled. You need to prove to them that every pill in your possession was obtained through a valid prescription.