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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Heist 'confirms' OxyContin fears

Restrictions may spur crime: experts

By: Jen Skerritt

Posted: 06/11/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

Another city pharmacist has been robbed at gunpoint for OxyContin, just two weeks after experts raised fears the provincial crackdown on opiate prescriptions would fuel a surge in crime.

The Manitoba Pharmaceutical Association sent out a warning to all pharmacists Thursday after two men armed with a gun demanded a Weston pharmacist hand over the drugstore's limited supply of OxyContin on Wednesday afternoon.

Police have not released the information publicly, but the alert said the armed robbers also demanded supplies of powerful painkillers morphine and Percocet.

The incident comes just two weeks after a series of four armed heists in which a man armed with a handgun demanded pharmacists hand over their supplies of OxyContin.

Manitoba recently imposed restrictions on OxyContin prescriptions that limit the narcotic to cancer patients or those with chronic conditions who can't tolerate other medications. Though the move was meant to reduce the supply of opiates on city streets and the ballooning demand for methadone treatment services, experts say there are still not enough treatment spaces to deal with the backlog of addicts who need help.

Front-line workers say desperate addicts who can't get into treatment programs could resort to crime to feed their addiction.

"It confirms the fears or, I guess, the realities of the need out there," said Ronald Guse, Manitoba Pharmaceutical Association registrar. "That's the need, the level of desire to get these drugs."

The recent move to restrict OxyContin hasn't stifled the demand for treatment, and the rise in abuse has driven up the wait list. The number of people waiting for methadone treatment jumped to 180 people from 150 in the last three months, raising concerns it could take longer than six to 12 months for someone to get help.

"People who don't get treatment for this feel very out of control and do desperate things," said Dr. Lindy Lee, director of the Health Sciences Centre addiction unit. "Other people just know there's a chance to make money if they take risks and find opiates they can sell."

Lee said the number of opiate addicts seeking help continues to rise, and there are not enough resources to keep up with the demand. She said the restrictions on OxyContin could drive up street prices for the drug, force addicts to search out other opiates, and in turn, create a new market for other drugs such as heroin.

Lee recently handed in her resignation after she said the problem "exploded" to the point where it's impossible to see patients within two weeks and some addicts have died before receiving a basic assessment.

"If opiates dry up in the city, you create a potential market for heroin, which could happen," Lee said.

Guse said he doesn't know whether the recent robberies were attempts by addicts to get a supply of opiates, or by people who intend to sell the prescriptions illegally on the street.

The regulatory body recently issued a notice to all pharmacies to post signs that indicate they only stock a limited supply of OxyContin, and to consider installing video cameras to deter theft. The Weston pharmacy had both of those measures in place at the time of the daytime robbery.

Tory health critic Myrna Driedger said experts warned weeks ago that a failure to address wait times for addiction treatment could result in an increase in armed robberies. She said the "writing was on the wall" and that the government failed to respond to the need for more opiate addiction treatment services.

jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 11, 2010 A4

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