A lot of drug stores today are simply letting customers know that they do not sell painkillers anymore. This is due to the rising number of people with the addiction to the Oxycontin painkiller.
For the past three years, there have been approximately 1,800 cases recorded of pharmacy robberies related to the drug being targeted. Usually the robbers are young men who are in search of Opioid painkillers or other drugs that are being sold to feed their addiction. Usually the target is the oxycodone, which has Oxycontin in it.
This had resulted in pharmacists tightening security measures because of the scare. Also, because of the rising number of robberies, the police have devised a plan to catch these robbers — to plant a tracking device in some of the drugs.
Many of these robbers are not afraid of committing these crimes since the jail time is in a minimum of three months. This is why legislators have filed a bill that will make the minimum penalty from three months to three years.
In addition to this, police officers have been having free training for investigating this type of case from Purdue Pharma. Also, pharmacists are taught on what to do to avoid such case and if ever they fall victim to one.
Additional improvements are being made to help combat this growing concern.