Bringing Tylenol 1 to America from Canada

[DrPepsi]

I recently got a call from my younger sister that went on vacation with her husband to Niagara Falls in Canada. She told me that Canada sells a brand of tylenol called "Tylenol 1" which has 8 mg of codeine and 325 mg of acetaminophen. I proceeded to tell her that codeine is a controlled substance in the US and that border security would probably confiscate it and charge her with drug trafficking.

Of course she didn't listen to me and the border patrol caught her but they let her bring it into the states. Apparently the border patrol will let you bring a maximum of 50 pills with you that have the 8 mg of codeine. Am I missing something here? How can the border patrol just let her take that into the US?


Or is there something that I'm not aware of.

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[Pharfalle]

Well, technically you can buy Robitussin with Codeine in the US without a prescription, right? Most pharmacies won't do it, but it isn't illegal. Maybe it is something like that? Due to the small amount of codeine?

 

[UBCmicrobi]

We sell "Tylenol #1" (or the generic equivalent to be exact) to Americans ALL THE TIME (man you guys like that ****). I'm under the impression Americans can take a certain quantity across the border (something like 100 tabs per person). I get people buying more than that and I warn them that it might get confiscated, but it 'aint my problem.

**edit or maybe it's 50, I don't know

But there are such things as exemptions. I don't think your sister "got away with anything", if it's legal to bring xyz quantity in, then it's legal. Trust me, with all the Americans doing it, it must be legit (I work in a pharmacy in a major city right near the border, with a lot of American tourists).

 

[UBCmicrobi]

Found this:

U .S . residents entering the United States at interna-
tional land borders who are carrying a validly obtained
controlled substance (other than narcotics such as mar-
ijuana, cocaine, heroin, or LSD), are subject to certain
additional requirements . If a U .S . resident wants to
bring in a controlled substance (other than narcotics
such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin, or LSD) but does
not have a prescription for the substance issued by a
U .S .-licensed practitioner (e .g ., physician, dentist, etc .)
who is registered with, and authorized by, the Drug
Enforcement Administration to prescribe the medica-
tion, the individual may not import more than 50
dosage units of the medication into the United States .
If the U .S . resident has a prescription for the controlled
substance issued by a DEA registrant, more than 50 dos-
age units may be imported by that person, provided all
other legal requirements are met .

http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/travel/vacation/kbyg/kbyg_regulations.ctt/kbyg_regulations.pdf

So maybe that's where the exemption comes in.

On a side note, it always makes me lol when Americans think they can bring their American prescriptions into a Canadian pharmacy to have it filled!

 

[Sparda29]

How did the border patrol find it? I know they probably have k-9s and checkpoints, but do they literally go through every single piece of your vehicle and bags when you're coming in?

 

[WVUPharm2007]

How did the border patrol find it? I know they probably have k-9s and checkpoints, but do they literally go through every single piece of your vehicle and bags when you're coming in?

I know. I've been to and back numerous times and I'm yet to be asked for anything more than ID...

 

[FruitFly]

But yet they won't let you bring in an apple without needing to 'destroy' (most likely also known as eat) it.

Anyways, it comes down to what classifies as reasonable and most likely individual use to treat a condition. 50 dosage units seems reasonable.

 

[DrPepsi]

How did the border patrol find it? I know they probably have k-9s and checkpoints, but do they literally go through every single piece of your vehicle and bags when you're coming in?

She declared it at the border.

 

[npage148]

Ugh, you never declare anything at the boarder. You are bringing nothing back! It's like rule one. But yeah, I know people who bring back 222's and robaxin, and Reactine (when it was not OTC in the US) when they cross the boarder. They have never had trouble as far as I know

 

[HoneyyXo]

Why can't Americans get Tylenol 1's over the counter in the first place? Codeine is a controlled substance here in Canada too, so y can we get the 1's without a script and u can't? We can grab a bottle of 100 or so as long as we give them our health card and they put it in their computer. They do that so u can't hit up like 5 drug stores that day and buy some more and that's just recent they never did that before. We can get Tylenol 2's and 3's with a prescription no problem from a Dr here too. They'd much rather give that out everywherree here like Dr's and hospitals then percocets or oxys.

 

[zelman]

Why can't Americans get Tylenol 1's over the counter in the first place? Codeine is a controlled substance here in Canada too, so y can we get the 1's without a script and u can't? We can grab a bottle of 100 or so as long as we give them our health card and they put it in their computer. They do that so u can't hit up like 5 drug stores that day and buy some more and that's just recent they never did that before. We can get Tylenol 2's and 3's with a prescription no problem from a Dr here too. They'd much rather give that out everywherree here like Dr's and hospitals then percocets or oxys.

Basically, because the DEA answers to no one.

 

[sosoo]

in america we have a Bieber problem. he's telling his fans to dope on codeine, prometh/codeine, tyl-codeine, etc. lots of kids jumping over the pharmacy counter to steal these codeine bottles. in the mid-atlantic, DMV areas, 20+ CVS pharmacies have been robbed because of this. emails have been sent out across the region to lock up these bottles in the safe where we keep narcotics!

 

[genesis09]

I get so many calls everyday asking if we have promethazine with codeine. I have to treat it like a C-2. Our policy is a max of 120 ml per fill.

A lot of the local chain pharmacies limit the number of bottles of promethazine with codeine an individual store can receive. Some refuse to stock hi-tech as an abuse deterrent.

The state of Wisconsin might be changing the law regarding OTC sales of Robitussin with codeine. They are trying to ban it as a way to decrease drug abuse. It'll still be available as a Rx. Very few pharmacies actually sell it as OTC, anyway.