The Prescription Drug Dilemma

[Just a guy 493]

I found this story today and it made me think about how much of a serious problem prescription drugs have become. This woman was drunk and taking prescription meds and going 100 mph in the wrong direction. Unfortunatly Westchester County is all too familiar with this type of incident and the catastrophic and tragic outcome that it can have.

It's almost a daily occurance that I stop people that have a pocket full of vicodin or some other form of oxy or hydrocodone or even some type of psych meds. The people that we stop and arrest don't see anything wrong with it because they are "prescription drugs", the problem is that the pills aren't their prescription drugs to be in possession of. "They are just holding them for a friend " or the ever popular "these aren't my pants" defense.

There have been countless drug store robberies across the country with people stealing pain killers including the savage massacre on long island. More recently we lost a brave member of the service because some junkie wanted to hold up a pharmacy to steal pain pills.

We charge drug possession and in some cases criminal diversion but the cases seem to get lost in the system and plead out with no real consequence to the offenders.

I believe some of the problem is with the doctors who over prescribe pain killers and some of it with weak and ineffective laws and prosection. I believe a lot of the problem is perception. People think that just because it's a pill and it comes from the pharmacy that it's not a "real" drug or a street drug, but i see pills more than crack these days and there is no end in sight.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/12/woman-drives-wrong-way-on-highway_n_1202516.html?ref=crime&icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl1%7Csec3_lnk1%26pLid%3D127272

http://seattle.cbslocal.com/2012/01/12/cops-drunk-woman-drives-17-miles-wrong-way-on-interstate-going-100-mph/

Edited January 13, 2012 by crime cop