America is in pain. And, this world of hurt is fueling an epidemic of pharmacy robberies across the country.
Addicts and a new breed of drug dealer are resorting to extreme violence to keep their supply of prescription painkillers flowing.
In one shocking story from Long Island New York, a depraved addict who was once an Army private and intelligence analyst gunned down a pharmacist, two customers, and store clerk before making a getaway with a stash of hydrocodone pills. There was no warning before the man opened fire.
Most pharmacy robbers are white males and their overwhelming drugs of choice are oxycodone painkillers like Oxycontin and Roxicodone or hydrocodone painkillers like Vicodin and Norco.
Pharmacy robberies are up 81% since 2006 with the number of pills stolen going from 700,000 to 1.3 million during the same time period.
Unlike street drug deals which typically occur in impoverished neighborhoods, pharmacy robberies are happening in middle income and even upscale suburban communities. All pharmacies appear to be fair game in this widespread epidemic.
Shockingly, prescription painkillers are now the #2 most abused drug in America after marijuana. Over 7 million Americans used them illegally them within the last month alone.
The problem has become so widespread that the National Community Pharmacists’ Association, representing over 20,000 independent chemists is encouraging the use of “height signs” in order to assist pharmacy employees to note the height of robbers as they bolt from the store after a successful heist.
Bullet proof glass is being considered by some pharmacies similar to those used by banks, though some in the industry worry that this will further delay the wait for legitimate customers and place a barrier between pharmacist and customer thereby reducing the opportunity to ask and get questions answered.
Prescription Grab is Not Just at the Pharmacy
This new epidemic of hold ups at the local pharmacy is not the only place the illegal grab for painkillers is taking place. It’s happening at, believe it or not, the ER at hospitals across the country too!
A friend my husband and I recently ran into whose son and daughter-in-law are both ER physicians told us that 70% of the time ER doctors are spending with patients is dealing with fraudulent illness whose main purpose is to get the ER doc to write a prescription for painkillers.
Do you get the picture?
“Doc, my back is killing me, I can’t move – I need some of that Oxycontin stuff!”
ER doctors, in my opinion, are some of the best in the business and deserve our respect and admiration for the amazing critical care work they do. These doctors display modern medicine at its finest. They certainly do not need to have their time wasted by addicts coming in to see them who fake illnesses with the sole purpose of scoring a painkiller prescription!
There are plenty of legitimate people for these doctors to help in the ER. Lines are long enough in the ER as it is without addicts adding to the mix.
Considering the sorry state of the majority of people’s diets and how pain is a symptom of nutritional deficiency and inflammation resulting from poor food choices – just a wild guess, but something tells me this whole painkiller addiction problem is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.
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Since changing to a whole foods diet I can’t remember the last time I took a pain pill either. And I used to take several throughout the week for headaches and nausea associated with oncoming headaches. I still get a headache from time to time, but not bad enough that I feel I need a painkiller. The odd time during my period I take one or two advil, but even that is becoming more rare. It’s amazing what a healthy diet can do for your body – just amazing!!
It astounds me that people still refuse to acknowledge the connection of diet to overall health.
Also of note that the drugs being abused here are modern refined versions of simple opium, which has a documented human history covering thousands of years of safe and effective use. Part of the current so-called “epidemic of drug abuse” is a the modern authoritarian mindset which equates all use with abuse and/or demands total control over everything we choose to put into our bodies. Of course this ratchet can only tighten, until something gives — witness how easily the “war on drugs” has mutated into the “war on traditional farmers and foods”. What actual abuse there is, stems mainly from the general breakdown of civil society, as well as the increased attempts at total control over the populace (prohibition only “works” for those whose paycheck depends on something being illegal). Equally significant is the artificially concentrated nature of these modern, refined versions — from poppy tea to heroin, from coca leaves to cocaine, from sugar cane to sugar — divorced from their proper context. Hence the average person is told it’s dangerous and/or forbidden to ingest certain substances for any purposes, whether medicinal, spiritual or recreational, and that instead they must consult a properly licensed professional, who will dutifully grant them temporary permission to ingest a refined, concentrated version of a natural product, all to further enrich the coffers of those whose profits depend on this artificial state of “soft tyranny”.
I just found opium referenced as an obvious alleviation for morning sickness in a British Medical Journal from 1860. The entire journal article is so practical and commonsense that I am inclined to want to pursue its prescriptions, and I found your comment in search of Sarah’s site for any reference to this natural remedy. Reading briefly about opium’s many benefits before the government wrapped an iron fist around it makes me feel similarly as I do about the hoops needed to jump through to obtain raw milk. Very misogynistic policies given the benefits both of these could (the former) and do (the latter) play in healthy, successful, and enjoyable pregnancy!
Yep, nasty stuff. This is the more obvious, violent side, but millions are suffering because of their degraded health. It’s so sad that we’re popping pills for joint pain and osteoporosis while eating boneless, skinless chicken and processed chicken-like nuggets, scarfing antacids and irritable bowel meds instead of live culture foods and so on.
Very true. Very few people go through a week anymore without popping at least one or two pain pills for something.
I have to say that getting free of pain is one of the BEST things about a nutrient dense, Real Food diet. I can’t remember the last time I had a pain pill for anything. It has been years.
In my eyes this is another reason to end the war on drugs. If people want to put this garbage in their bodies, which clearly they do, then let them go buy it. At least then they won’t need to kill innocent people because a doctor won’t write them a script.
I think you tried to make the point that people are in pain and that is why the craze for these pain meds. I don’t think they are really in pain, no more pain than an alcoholic or any other drug abbuser. They like the high.
BTW love the blog!!
Yes, you are right about that. A high is a big reason BUT the original reason these folks got addicted in the first place was pain. Most of these folks are law abiding, good people that got addicted to these nasty drugs while trying to get free of some kind of debilitating pain. A friend of mine (Mom of 3) got addicted to pain meds without realizing it as she had migraines all the time. Had to go to a hospital and detox for a couple of weeks to get off them for heaven’s sake!
I agree w/ Sarah. I actually am a Social Worker at a medical detox in Colorado. The majority of our patients have been prescribed pain medications because of a surgery or injury. We see Veterans, Therapists, Doctors, etc. Addiction can creep into anyone’s life. It is true that these pills can get people ‘high’ but there’s more to it than that. It’s important to look at someone as an individuals and avoid the stigmas/stereotypes that society has developed.
Plus… SO many Docs get kick backs from prescribing this stuff- some just hand it out. It’s an epedemic….
I don’t even want to start on the topic of adderall (the FDA approved an off-label prescription for children as young as 3 to be put on this stimulant!).
Money. Money. Money.
My husband and I are joyfully Rx free….and intend to stay that way for life! Nutritional healing is better 🙂
That’s crazy! My husband has a medical condition that flares up and he sometimes needs pain pills for that, but I prefer the lowest dose that I can get away with. I’m not sure if it’s a nutrition problem, but it could be.
It’s the sad reality that we live in these days. Big Pharma runs and controls the government. These are also the same people that are helping to produce our “food” so it makes sense.
This is why what you are doing in terms of raising awareness about eating healthy is so important. Keep doing what you do.
the pharmacy drive thru is the only way to go now
Our son’s fiance’ and a friend of our’s both died from prescription painkillers (one overdosed accidently – she had lupus – and the other suffocated).
The US is OVER MEDICATED!!!!!!