String of Pharmacy Robberies by OxyContin Addicts Put Pharmacists on Guard
Posted under Prescription Drugs on Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
Pharmacists from Calgary, Alberta, are being cautioned to prepare for potential crisis situations after several local pharmacies experienced successions of armed robberies by addicts who have resorted to crime to feed their drug habits. Some desperate addicts within the Alberta region have turned to robbery in order to get their hands on the highly potent opiate prescription drug OxyContin.
OxyContin has become the robbers’ drug of choice when it comes to abetting their addictions, at a time when prescription drug abuse is at an all-time high worldwide. OxyContin, a brand name for oxycodone, has been dubbed "Hillbilly Heroin" since it is cheaper and produces the same high as heroin. Oxycodone, like heroin, is a derivative of opium, yet oxycodone has been associated with more abuse, overdose, and deaths than heroin in the past several years.
As of 2004, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) estimates that 11 million Americans have abused oxycodone in their lifetime, whereas 1.9 million have abused heroin in their lifetime. In the U.S., 5.2 million Americans ages 12 and older are believed to be current prescription drug abusers. A recent Victorian study revealed that oxycodone had become more popular among substance abusers than heroin throughout several major Canadian cities. Because prescription drugs are cheaper and more accessible than street drugs, more drug users are resorting to legal drugs to get high. Yet prescription drugs are just as lethal as illicit drugs. According to SAMHSA, the misuse of pharmaceuticals has been responsible for nearly 500,000 U.S. visits to hospital emergency departments in 2004, with more than 1 in 5 being caused by the abuse of opioid/opiate or benzodiazepine prescription drugs.
The Alberta Pharmacists Association warned local pharmacists to protect themselves in the event of a crisis following the incarceration of an OxyContin robber from Calgary on July 19. Cory Alan Sharlow, 31, robbed 10 Alberta pharmacies of OxyContin, taking between $70 and $1,700 during each robbery while displaying a firearm. Sharlow pled guilty to charges including robbery, disguised during a robbery, car jacking, being involved in a hit-and-run car accident, and driving without insurance after being arrested for a robbery spree that took place between September and October 2009. Presiding Judge Anne Brown sentenced Sharlow to eight years in prison since his out of control addiction compelled his to commit his crimes. Sharlow expressed that he wishes to continue drug rehabilitation during his sentence.
Several other incidences involving addicts committing robberies for OxyContin have sprung up in the Alberta area in recent months. In February, 25-year-old Timothy Curtis Arthurs was indicted after being caught for robbing the same pharmacy three times for OxyContin. Arthurs pled guilty and is now serving 3 ½ years in prison. In March, 34-year-old Robert Michael Gauthier was sentenced to 8 ½ years in prison for committing dozens of pharmacy robberies from October 2008 to May 2009, one in which he assaulted a pregnant woman. A 27-year-old woman, Dawn Farkas, was arrested for co-conspiring with Gauthier and is due for sentencing on August 19.
Source: Calgary Herald, Daryl Slade, Druggists Warned as Desperate OxyContin Addicts Turn to Robbery to Feed Habit, July 20, 2010
