Chit Chat

XP Advice - Involve Cops or no?

H and I live in a duplex in a somewhate sketch neighborhood, but our little street of duplexes is fairly safe. We're just surrounded by crime and low-income apartments on 3 sides.

I went to get the mail today and I noticed that there was a pill bottle tucked in our Christmas wreath. Our front door is around the side of the house and up in a porch, so it's not super easily accessible from the street.

The pill bottle had no label, so we looked up the pills, and it's hydrocodone. Obviously it's not illegal, and we are so not into that stuff, so our first inclination is to just flush it and be done with it, but I'm not sure if cops even care?

I'm terrified that either a)Someone is delivering to the wrong house and may want money, b) Someone stashed it from the cops or c)It was supposed to be a handoff and someone will be back looking for it.

We took the entire wreath off the door so there's no question that it is gone. We have a big dog and a gun in the house, so I truly think our risk level is low.

Do we call the cops for a legal, but controlled substance??

Re: XP Advice - Involve Cops or no?

  • I'd call the non-emergency police number, and let them know about it.

    They may tell you to just flush the pills, no big deal, or they might come get them.  Either way, I feel like it is best if the cops know if something fishy is going down, and they may step up patrols around your neighborhood to make things safer.


  • I would definitely let the cops know. The fact that more than likely a drug dealer was on your doorstep is alarming. What if they come back? I may be paranoid but what would they say if you run into them and they realize they dropped it at the wrong house? Do you have an alarm system? I mean a bottle of hydrocodone doesn't usually just show up places, there was a purpose behind it. Just alert the cops so they know and see what they say about it.
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  • Does another family live in the house? (doesn't a duplex house 2 families?) If so, maybe you can speak with your neighbor if you feel comfortable doing so. This is a tough situation but I would feel safe with a gun and dog in the house. 
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  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_chit-chat_advice-involve-cops-or-no?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:14Discussion:c63b65c5-38b2-4a7e-add3-4598deaebfccPost:c000f500-3f5e-4550-bfdb-1339e5d5c7ee">Re: XP Advice - Involve Cops or no?</a>:
    [QUOTE]Does another family live in the house? (doesn't a duplex house 2 families?) If so, maybe you can speak with your neighbor if you feel comfortable doing so. This is a tough situation but I would feel safe with a gun and dog in the house. 
    Posted by JadziaDax[/QUOTE]

    I would absolutely not speak to the neighbor about it.  Especially if you think they might be involved.

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  • DItto PP. Call the non emergency number and see what they say.  If anything they have a record of it happening JIC it happens again or worse they think someone is dealing/selling from your home.
     
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  • I agree with calling the cops.  However, if they tell you to just get rid of them, DO NOT FLUSH them.  If you want to dispose of medications, they should either be taken to a prescription drug disposal event (if you community has one).  If not, seal them in a plastic ziploc bag and throw them in the trash.  Wastewater treatment plants do not break down medications and they end up in the river or groundwater.  Although tossing them in the landfill is not ideal, it has a smaller chance of impacting the environment.
  • In regards to disposing of the medication: If you need to do it on your own and there isn't a community drop off event of some kind. Call your local doctor and ask if they can dispose of them for you. Some will, some won't. Also, we were advised to mix a little wet soil in with the pills after putting them in a bag. That way it makes harder for someone to use them if they find the bag.

     

  • Ditto calling the non-emergency police line to see what they say. Better safe than sorry with this kind of thing. 

    In the event that they do tell you just to get rid of it, our local pharmacy always takes old medications for disposal. You could try that as well. 
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  • And after you take the previous posters' advice PLUS tell your landlord, get off the KNOT site and do a search for other places to live.  Go visit those places this weekend.  Then tell your landlord that you've been advised to move immediately and you understand that this means that the landlord will not reveal your forwarding address to anyone.  Your landlord has had people break leases for much less than police business with drugs.  Then move to your new place at the end of January. 
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_chit-chat_advice-involve-cops-or-no?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:14Discussion:c63b65c5-38b2-4a7e-add3-4598deaebfccPost:f078ee7a-bd21-451a-9f21-9bec3fc9f5e2">Re: XP Advice - Involve Cops or no?</a>:
    [QUOTE]And after you take the previous posters' advice PLUS tell your landlord, get off the KNOT site and do a search for other places to live.  Go visit those places this weekend.  Then tell your landlord that you've been advised to move immediately and you understand that this means that the landlord will not reveal your forwarding address to anyone.  Your landlord has had people break leases for much less than police business with drugs.  Then move to your new place at the end of January. 
    Posted by Kristin789[/QUOTE]

    This is not rational.  Most people don't have the ability/funds to just pick up and move tomorrow.
     
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  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_chit-chat_advice-involve-cops-or-no?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:14Discussion:c63b65c5-38b2-4a7e-add3-4598deaebfccPost:f078ee7a-bd21-451a-9f21-9bec3fc9f5e2">Re: XP Advice - Involve Cops or no?</a>:
    [QUOTE]And after you take the previous posters' advice PLUS tell your landlord, get off the KNOT site and do a search for other places to live.  Go visit those places this weekend.  Then tell your landlord that you've been advised to move immediately and you understand that this means that the landlord will not reveal your forwarding address to anyone.  Your landlord has had people break leases for much less than police business with drugs.  Then move to your new place at the end of January. 
    Posted by Kristin789[/QUOTE]

    Umm, what?! This took my brain to a whole new level of WTF.

    I agree to call the non-emergency line just so there is record of the incident.

  • Just to clarify, even though hydrocodone can be a legal controlled substance, for it to be posessed legally it must be in a marked pill bottle possessed by the person the pills are prescribed to. 
    Keeping the pills in an unmarked pill bottle makes the possession illegal.  So even if the substance can be legally prescribed, technically right now the manner in which they are being possessed is illegal.

    With that being said, I'm another vote for contact the police and let them know what happened. If you just walk into a pharmacy or doctor's office and ask them to dispose of pills in an unmarked bottle, they may call the police on you.
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  • cwaggoner07cwaggoner07 member
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    edited January 2013
    Good news, Kristin. The moving trucks are outside right now.

    Except not. Because it's tax season and we are poor and we have a lease and also I'm terribly afraid our dog will suffer separation anxiety.

    Update: My dad informally informed his cousin who works in the PD in a Dallas suburb and we're going to take whatever action he tells us. So really, not an update. We still have the pills hidden in the bathroom. They still freak me out.

    ETA: Thanks so much to all who advised against flushing... I truly had no idea it was bad form to do that. If we do get rid of them (what am I saying, one way or another we will get rid of them) I will follow y'alls advice.
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