OxyContin Robberies Make Pharmacy Work a Risky Business
Those individuals who seek employment in a pharmacy may be entering a high risk job. For one individual in Winnipeg, a robbery in his place of employment resulted in the assailant assaulting him.
According to Winnipeg CTV report, this particular incident took place less than a week after police arrested three other suspects in a number of OxyContin robberies at local pharmacies.
The most recent incident included a male walking into a drug store, jumping across the counter and grabbing the pharmacist by the neck. He then held a sharp object to her throat and demanded OxyContin. After receiving an undisclosed amount of drugs, the assailant fled.
Drew Thomas is fighting an OxyContin addiction and has been for the past two years. He noted that many addicts are becoming desperate for a fix. With tighter restrictions on OxyContin, many addicts are getting desperate. Thomas is trying to get clean and has started a new treatment program.
Laurie Magee is with the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba. She highlighted that the recent surge is scary for pharmacists and it is frustrating and even scary that the organizations created to offer help cannot reach all of those needed help right now. There are currently 185 people waiting to receive treatment within the methadone program.
Authorities expect the OxyContin problem to get worse before it ever gets better. Workers on the frontline appear to be bracing for a rise in other opiate drug problems as addicts seek to address an OxyContin addiction they cannot support due to a lack of access to the drug of choice.