ok heres a weird one. The other day i was in my car and i brought my medication with me. I grabbed it while driving then realized my water was in the back seat so i stuck it for some reason in the door pocket for a minute. Well i get where i need to go then go to grab it but inside that plastic door panel pocket, in the bottom center there is a little dimple like hole against the part closest to driver seat. When i go to get it, it slid into this hole and i could no longer see it in there when i looked. I tried to fish it out but i guess it slid somewhere i couldnt get. My concern is, I soon should be taking a vacation to Canada and ever year when i go there, they make me go into the bays and have dogs check my car. Also, when I've been pulled over I've had this happen once as well. My script is almost gone and my med had to do with a small surgery i had, so i am concerned if sometime in the future i get stopped or the dogs in canada smell my car they might find this and i cant carry the empty bottle forever as proof and even then they would have to impound me till they can prove the pill came from that bottle. I'm a descent guy that works all day, and i have started school for nursing at night so I have nothing to worry about as far as being a shady guy. I just dont wanna get in big trouble for something dumb cause you never know. Anyway, i dont really have time/torx to take off the whole door panel and hunt for it, so here and there i have been leaking a little water into that hole hoping it will disolve. You guys knowing how the panels are set up in there, do you think this would work to get rid of it? The water leaks out the bottom of the panel when i do this. I know its a dumb situation, just makes me nervous, and dont know what to do. God how do i end up in these dumb spots. any ideas other than taking it apart? thanks bt

 

BT: No real suggestions here, but thanks for sharing your dilema. Nice to know I'm not the only one to get into these situations!

Have you considered using a vacuum cleaner?

Or maybe just rocking the car back and forth real hard to see if you can coax the pill out of its hiding place???

 

My $0.02,

Using water to try and dissolve it would likely just make a mess, and possibly ruin the door card (panel). Although you said that you don't have time, it really doesn't take too long to remove the door card. I would recommend taking off the card, shaking it around until the pill drops out, and snapping it back on. It really shouldn't take more than a half hour total to accomplish. (I actually lost a penny in the door card, and it rattled around until I removed the card and shook it out!)

The only other option that I can see is taking it to the dealer and having them remove it. They would probably end up charging you $100+ to do it though...

Also, i really don't know this, but would drug dogs really go off on just one pill? And unless the pill contained coke or weed or heroin or some such, would the dog even care if you had a whole pile of them? Just thinking out loud!

In any case, good luck!

-Paul!

 

I could see that if it was a prescription from a surgery, it could be a narcotic and as such it could set off a good dog. I would also discourage trying to dissolve the pill. Even if you don't get it out (which from Paul's description it shouldn't be too hard) if you get pulled over and a dog finds it after you've tried to dissolve it, it will be rather powdery which I would think would get you into more trouble than a pill for which you could prove you had a script for if necessary

 

I wouldn't worry about getting in trouble for one pill. I would just worry about the border police dismantling your car door for you and messing it up. Though I doubt the dogs are going to smell one old pill in there anyhow. So in the end I would probably just forget about it if you really don't want to take the door apart. Take the label off of the bottle and throw it in you glove box just in case.

 

vacuum it with a small nozzle to increase the suction....

 

I think I saw this plot on a sitcom....

 

Interesting situation. All I can offer is my own tale......cue the dream sequence music.

I dropped my debit card inside the car once and it slid down between the driver's seat and the center console hump. I could barely see it, but there was no way for me to get it out! I tried moving the seat forward and back, but that didn't help one bit. (Oh, and did I mention I was at a gas station, on empty, at least 300 miles from home on a business trip?) Ultimately what I ended up doing was buying a pair of long tweezers from the station (thank goodness they sold them!) and plucked my card out.

*Whew*

I keep those tweezers in the car at all times now!

 

One time making a trip from Canada I had a bottle of prescription pain killers for a bike accident. It was cotylenol or Vicodin family. The pills were in my carry on, and the drug sniffing dog came right by me. Nice Golden Retreiver that works at Toronto airport. Not even a flicker of interest in my bag.

I think they are really looking for weed, lots of coke, heroin or meth. I would not worry.

 

If it's just a pill, have you tried using a vacuum cleaner with a small nozzle? It's amazing what a shop vac can pick up.

Also, which border crossing were you thinking of? I cross over to the US quite often and have never met a drug dog (at least on the Canadian side). Just answer truthfully with a straight face and no attitude. You should be fine.

However, you might not be so lucky going back into the USA. I was pulled over and almost arrested because I neglected to see my 5 year old daughter eating a banana in the back seat and told the US customs officer I wasn't importing any fruits. They confiscated the banana and gave me a stern warning for lying to the customs officer.

 

hmm, i think it might have rolled laterally in there so i guess i have to take off the panel, not sure how to and search hasnt done much. Usually i come back from montreal, and it is the us side that always makes me stop and go to the bays. i am just unsure how far it could have traveled in that little hole cause i dont know where it goes. this kinda funny stuff always happens to me, just makes me scared to drive around now, just cause its there. haha idk

 

WELLLLLL You can always use the MINI's awesome handling and pull about 40g's around a corner to get it out..

 

If it's prescription then it's legal (both here and there, unless there's a Canadian ban on opiates of which I remain unawares). So, what they'd be looking for is saleable quantities. A single pill stuffed inside someone's door panel is not likely to be considered a saleable quantity.

If this is presently the biggest concern in your life, I'd kick back, have a beer and sleep well tonight.

 

yeh, there is something like a drainage air hole there. hahaha.
what luck.

It's not hard to remove the door panel off the car (check the
interior & exterior mods section); your pill might have dropped
inside the large oval opening behind the door panel.

If you're lucky, you won't have to remove the entire panel
off the door...when you initially pry it open it might just fall out from
the bottom...then you can just bang the panel back onto the
door (held on by a few torex screws and lots of snaps).

 

I understand Tommy Chong is out of jail. He might be interested in free prescription drugs.

It's me, Dave, open up man...

Uh, Dave's not here...

 

HAHA got it! Took me about five minutes or so to get the door panel off. I think it was more simple than i expected. Anyway i picked it up and shook it up side down like a bad babysitter with a crying kid and nothing happened, but today i came home to find it laying in my driveway unharmed, so thanks guys cause my odd-ball problem has been solved and i can motor with confidence again!

 

Thanks for the update, btal! Good job!


Clover

 

OOOOOOOOO, I hate those pill sniffin' dogs!

 

Congrats! Told ya it was easy removing the panel!

-Paul!

 

haha never know what kinda new-fangled dogs they got now adays. yeah it was quite simple, thanks for all the help.