Rise in pharmacy robberies signals Maine’s addiction to prescription drugs

A young man armed with a hunting knife jumped a pharmacy counter in Guilford a couple of weeks ago and, after threatening the pharmacist, got away with a large amount of narcotics.

Pharmacy robberies nonexistent several years ago are dramatically increasing in Maine. There were 24 last year and eight already in the first three months of 2012.

The number of robberies has risen so fast that U.S. Attorney for Maine Thomas E. Delahanty II took notice and in mid-2010 spearheaded a multi-agency effort to review all such robberies to see if they qualify for federal prosecution.

There was in 2010 a substantial increase, almost threefold, of armed robberies or nighttime break-ins at pharmacies, mostly for OxyContin or other painkillers, Delahanty said. There is a demand for the prescription drugs, especially painkillers. I think some people see them as an easy target. They know they have the product.

Maine drug addicts want prescription painkillers OxyContin was the No. 1 choice for years and recently has been replaced by oxycodone and the ones who arm themselves and rob pharmacies often are desperate junkies feeding an opiate addiction, said Mike Wardrop, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration resident agent for Maine.

Its bad business. Its dangerous business, he said.

There were two pharmacy robberies in 2008. In 2009, the year the DEA and Delahanty started collecting data, the number jumped to eight. It rose to 21 in 2010.

Most of the drugstores hit are located in southern Maine, but each county except for Lincoln, Sagadahoc, Waldo and Washington has been hit at least once in the last three years.

Portland was the only Maine community to see double digits, with Biddeford, Augusta, Lewiston, South Portland, Westbrook, Stonington, Camden, Millinocket, Bingham, Kittery, Saco and Sanford with at least two drugstore robberies since 2009, Delahantys data show.

Pills were always an abused form of drug, but when doctors started to prescribe OxyContin, it took over. We were done, Portland police Lt. Gary Rogers said.

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Rise in pharmacy robberies signals Maine’s addiction to prescription drugs