Prescription Meds

[shera1209]

Hi all,

 

I am sailing on the Star this coming weekend. My question - if I am taking some meds with me (some prescription, some just Excedrin, Tylenol, etc.), do I need to take them in their original bottles? I'm looking to save room by possibly putting only what I need in a travel container. This is my first cruise, so I don't know what is permitted. Thanks so much for your help!

 

Sheri

[bonvoyagie]

The cruise ship does not care about these kind of things.

[mcmomny]

customs does care, if you are traveling Internationally you should carry them in the orginal bottles.

[sparks1093]

DW brought the weekly travel container and filled it from the original bottles. As stated the cruise line doesn't care but Customs might (it would really only be an issue if you were sent to secondary inspection and they performed a search).

[Medtech2]

Hi all,

 

I am sailing on the Star this coming weekend. My question - if I am taking some meds with me (some prescription, some just Excedrin, Tylenol, etc.), do I need to take them in their original bottles? I'm looking to save room by possibly putting only what I need in a travel container. This is my first cruise, so I don't know what is permitted. Thanks so much for your help!

 

Sheri

I just fill a travel case but I carry a list of what everything is and the strength with my doctor's information. Never had a problem on a cruise or driving into Canada. Only on international flights do I carry the originals and always in my carryon.

[don24]

just a side not ,its a felony drug charge to carry prescription medicine in a container other than the original bottle with name of drug,patient and pharmacy name tag intact.this prevents little johnny from selling grandmas drugs to get his own drug of choice.

[CapeCodCruiser]

just a side not ,its a felony drug charge to carry prescription medicine in a container other than the original bottle with name of drug,patient and pharmacy name tag intact.this prevents little johnny from selling grandmas drugs to get his own drug of choice.

 

Actually the laws vary by state. If you do carry RX meds in a pill keeper then also carry a copy of the prescription AND a copy of the pharmacy receipt with your name & the drug name. This should satisfy the customs folks. But carrying in their original container is fool proof. If you have a large bottle and just need a small amount ask the pharmacy if they will make a small bottle with label for you.

Edited August 13, 2012 by CapeCodCruiser

[Need-a-vacation]

I had actually wondered the same thing. I get my prescriptions in a 90-day supply from our mail-order pharmacy, so they come in big bottles that would be a pain to carry and I threw away the paperwork a long time ago.

[mcmomny]

I just fill a travel case but I carry a list of what everything is and the strength with my doctor's information. Never had a problem on a cruise or driving into Canada. Only on international flights do I carry the originals and always in my carryon.

 

 

Yes! Always put them in your carry ons! Never check them in case you bags get delayed!

[canadiancruiser13]

Hi all,

 

I am sailing on the Star this coming weekend. My question - if I am taking some meds with me (some prescription, some just Excedrin, Tylenol, etc.), do I need to take them in their original bottles? I'm looking to save room by possibly putting only what I need in a travel container. This is my first cruise, so I don't know what is permitted. Thanks so much for your help!

 

Sheri

My wife takes a number of different meds, when she gets them refilled / renewed they usually are in a larger med bottle.

 

My wife asks the Pharmacist do a smaller bottle of each Med. with proper labelling for each of the larger bottles.

 

If you are able to ask your Pharacist, I am sure they would be able to do the same.

[graphicguy]

Hi all,

 

I am sailing on the Star this coming weekend. My question - if I am taking some meds with me (some prescription, some just Excedrin, Tylenol, etc.), do I need to take them in their original bottles? I'm looking to save room by possibly putting only what I need in a travel container. This is my first cruise, so I don't know what is permitted. Thanks so much for your help!

 

Sheri

 

No problems....you're good to go. Have done this many times. Even had customs do a random search a couple of times. They looked at my pill dispenser, asked me what it was. I told them. They sent my on my merry way.

 

I think those who go out of their way to try to unusually conceal meds, or have some with no markings, may be questioned, however.

[Donray]

just a side not ,its a felony drug charge to carry prescription medicine in a container other than the original bottle with name of drug,patient and pharmacy name tag intact.this prevents little johnny from selling grandmas drugs to get his own drug of choice.

 

Why don't you post a link to this law?

 

You cannot because it is not true.

 

Why do you need to make things up?

[willysgrandma]

Are you flying to get to the cruise? The cruise line doesn't care but the airlines might. If you are flying, call your airline and ask.

 

I always bring my prescriptions in bottles, DH brings his in a pill case. We've never been stopped, but when we fly to Europe in Oct., I told him he needs to leave his meds in the original prescription bottles.

[Donray]

Can anyone tell me why a bottle with the prescription on it means it is OK?

Anyone can print a label at home now a days.

If I were a customs person I would be very suspect of bottles of drugs. What about vitamins or other non prescription? Those could hide illegal drugs.

I have never heard of anyone having there medicine taken away because they had a supply in the seven day containers. That includes anyone on CC has never had them taken away.

The being said, I would be very careful with opiate type drugs and only have what is needed and a prescription with you. .

[palmyrafan]

DH and I both take various Rx meds. We would never consider taking them in anything but their original bottle.

 

Reason? We don't know what controlled or "illegal" drugs look like. But we don't want to get in trouble with the customs, etc. who may question what a certain drug is. Without Rx bottle, we have no proof of what the meds are.

 

Also, we make copies of the Rx or have our doctors give us a copy of the Rx for the cruise just in case the meds get lost or stolen. At least that way, we have a way to get them refilled.

[sparks1093]

Can anyone tell me why a bottle with the prescription on it means it is OK?

 

Anyone can print a label at home now a days.

 

If I were a customs person I would be very suspect of bottles of drugs. What about vitamins or other non prescription? Those could hide illegal drugs.

 

I have never heard of anyone having there medicine taken away because they had a supply in the seven day containers. That includes anyone on CC has never had them taken away.

 

The being said, I would be very careful with opiate type drugs and only have what is needed and a prescription with you. .

 

Because it complies with the law.

 

Can they be faked? Yep.

 

Can other things be put in them? Yep.

 

Do some illegal drugs make it through in such a manner? Yep.

 

Does that make it right? Nope.

 

Am I gonna risk it? Nope.

 

YMMV.

[Donray]

Can anyone post the federal law that makes it a felony to ever have prescription pills outside of the original container?

I take it that the FBI are the ones that inspect to make sure that no one every travels with the seven day pill boxes.

Maybe you can tell me why the people that sell these pill boxes are not arrested for promoting a felony

[sparks1093]

Can anyone post the federal law that makes it a felony to ever have prescription pills outside of the original container?

 

I take it that the FBI are the ones that inspect to make sure that no one every travels with the seven day pill boxes.

 

Maybe you can tell me why the people that sell these pill boxes are not arrested for promoting a felony

 

 

When I googled earlier I did find the Federal law regarding the labeling of prescription meds and several sites that talked about the laws in different jurisdictions (remember, you also have the 50 states to contend with plus the laws of the countries you are visiting). Don't care enough about the issue to find a citation for you;). (And actually the agency that would have primary jurisdiction would probably be the DEA).

[portwineboy]

just a side not ,its a felony drug charge to carry prescription medicine in a container other than the original bottle with name of drug,patient and pharmacy name tag intact.this prevents little johnny from selling grandmas drugs to get his own drug of choice.

 

 

It is most certainly not. Some states have laws that address the issue like this one...

 

New York State Public Health Law Article 33, Title 4, Subsection 3345 (Possession of controlled substances by ultimate users original container): Except for the purpose of current use by the person or animal for whom such substance was prescribed or dispensed, it shall be unlawful for an ultimate user of controlled substances to possess such substance outside of the original container in which it was dispensed. Violation of this provision shall be an offense punishable by a fine of not more than fifty dollars.

 

As you can see however, it is far from felony ($50 fine). In fact, if your prescription is not a "controlled substance" (Schedule I-IV) you need not worry at all. Also, the NY law says "except for the purpose of current use by the person..." I imagine many other state laws have this provision.

 

How do I know this? I have a friend at DEA who works in Diversion (the group that deals with prescription drug abuse.) I called and confirmed this with him.

[Donray]

When I googled earlier I did find the Federal law regarding the labeling of prescription meds and several sites that talked about the laws in different jurisdictions (remember, you also have the 50 states to contend with plus the laws of the countries you are visiting). Don't care enough about the issue to find a citation for you;). (And actually the agency that would have primary jurisdiction would probably be the DEA).

 

You can't find it because there is no such federal law.............

 

Just deal with the USA federal law that states you must always keep medication in the original container.

If you don't care about people supplying misinformation why are you trying to find this non existent law?

Still waiting on someone that got arrested by a TSA or US custom agent having pills in a seven day case. Just provide the booking number for the arrest so we can verify.

[Donray]

Off to a Viking river cruise in China with three weeks if pills in seven day pill cases.

I will let people know if I get in trouble.

[Cdn kitty]

Why not ask your pharmacy for some labeled small bottles for the the trip? I realize local regulations may not allow that in some locals......

[sparks1093]

You can't find it because there is no such federal law.............

 

Just deal with the USA federal law that states you must always keep medication in the original container.

 

If you don't care about people supplying misinformation why are you trying to find this non existent law?

 

Still waiting on someone that got arrested by a TSA or US custom agent having pills in a seven day case. Just provide the booking number for the arrest so we can verify.

 

I took 30 seconds to google it to see if there was an easy answer, doesn't mean that I care. And as I pointed out, you have to worry about more than just Federal jurisdiction.

[shera1209]

Thanks to all for the answers. I have a 90-day supply of one of my meds, so it's in a huge container. I guess I'll just stick with it to be safe. We're not flying, but better safe than sorry I suppose. Thanks again!

[jetskier]

What you would be arrested for is possession of a controlled substance. The police officer has no way of determining if they are prescribed to you unless you have the original container or the paper that the pharmicist gives with the prescription. So basically you will have to go before a judge to prove that they were prescribed to you.

 

You can also be arrested for possessing a controlled substance in a prescription bottle if the name on the bottle is not you. There have been a couple of cases of folks picking up prescriptions for someone as an errand and being charged. Usually there are other violations that led up to the discovery.

 

Dave