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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Oxycontin rules: Increase in drug robberies feared

By: Bruce Owen and Jen Skerritt

Posted: 05/29/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

Pharmacists fear the recent crackdown on OxyContin prescriptions will spark an increase in armed robberies.

City police continue to hunt for a man who robbed four pharmacies armed with a handgun this week for the powerful painkiller OxyContin. No one was injured. The suspect is described as a white male, approximately six feet tall (182 centimetres) with a slim build. Call investigators at 986-6219 or Crime Stoppers at 786-8477 if you have information.

The armed heists come on the heels of recent restrictions on OxyContin prescriptions that limit the narcotic to cancer patients or those with chronic conditions who can't tolerate other medications. While the move was meant to reduce the supply of opiates on city streets and the demand for methadone treatment services, some fear it will also make pharmacies more vulnerable to theft.

Some pharmacists worry that as the supply of OxyContin on the street starts to dry up, desperate addicts will rob pharmacies in order to keep severe symptoms of withdrawal at bay.

"What is the government trying to accomplish with the new rules?" said Gregory Harochaw, a pharmacist who specializes in pain management and chairs the Manitoba Society of Pharmacists economic committee.

"You're going to open up more pharmacies to robbery. If they're running short of their medication and they're high on it, they're going to try and do things to get their medication they (once) got illegally on the street."

The Manitoba Pharmaceutical Association has told pharmacists to put a notice on window up that they don't carry large stocks of OxyContin. Registrar Ronald Guse said the armed heists serve as a vivid reminder to all pharmacists to keep proper security measures in place, and that some should hire security guards and have good surveillance cameras installed if they don't already.

But he added there is only so much pharmacy staff can do when confronted with a gunman who's likely addicted to OxyContin. Abusers of the drug crush pills up and inject it like heroin, or snort it, so they get an immediate rush.

"We don't have anything here to stop an individual doing what he's doing," Guse said. "But there are preventative measures we can take."

Four Rivers Medical Clinic owner Daren Jorgenson said the changes could drive up street prices for OxyContin and fuel even bigger problems as addicts have to commit more crimes to buy the drug. Organized crime will also become more involved because of the lure of big profits, he said.

Jorgenson said the focus should be on increasing methadone treatment to wean addicts off the drug and investing more in health care to reduce surgery waiting lists, so that OxyContin isn't used as much as it is now for patients to manage their pain.

Harochaw, who has been robbed at knifepoint for narcotics in the past, said without enough treatment spaces to help addicts get off OxyContin, more instances of patients taking drastic measures to get their drugs will occur.

The recent surge in opiate abuse has left 180 patients waiting between six and 12 months for treatment, and a growing number of addicts are dying before they receive help.

"Now you're going to have someone walking into a pharmacy with a gun (pointed) at your head, saying I want my drugs," Harochaw said.

Guse met with Healthy Living Minister Jim Rondeau on Thursday to discuss how to better protect pharmacists.

Rondeau came under fire earlier this week because of the province's handling of drug treatment services as waiting lists continue to grow.

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 29, 2010 A9

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