Drug dilemma

Despite Janzen’s Pharmacy’s Westfort location being robbed of an undisclosed amount of OxyContin early Tuesday morning, owner Brenda Adams said they will continue to carry the drug.

Adams said while they will be working to make sure they only have a minimal amount of the narcotic in stock, they have to think of their customers first.

“Unfortunately if all of us in the city did decide not to carry it, it would become a problem for our patients,” she said. “We certainly don’t want that to happen or (it would) certainly be a last resort. We’ll put everything in place we think will be a deterrent…before we ever consider taking it down to the level where it affects our patient care.”

Tuesday around 8:40 a.m. a man held up the Frederica Street pharmacy with a knife and a syringe. Police say the suspect demanded OxyContin and morphine; he fled on foot with the pills.

The suspect stands about five-foot-six and has a heavy build. He wore a black mask, black pants and a blue hoodie at the time of the robbery.

Insp. Scott Smith said they are still looking for the culprit.

“A number of prescription drugs were netted during the robbery so our drug officers are looking to see if there’s a spike in sales and we hope to be able to identify the suspect shortly, but at present we don’t have anybody in particular on our radar,” he said.
 
Smith said the Thunder Bay Police Service hasn’t seen many pharmacy robberies recently and those pharmacies that carry narcotics like OxyContin need to be diligent with their security systems.

“The illegal sale of prescription narcotics is a very big problem in Thunder Bay and all across Northern Ontario,” said Smith. “There is a very big market for it in small, remote communities; it drives the black market price up. Subsequently there is money to be made and any time money can be made through an illegal means, there are people that will take advantage of it.”

The street value of OxyContin is about $1 per gram, but can cost seven to 10 times that value depending on what community you’re in and the present availability of the drug, Smith said.

Although neither of Janzen’s two locations have been robbed before, Adams said Tuesday’s robbery is not completely surprising because it has happened to other pharmacies.

“We’ve been fortunate enough to not have it happen to us, but our Westfort pharmacy is new; it’s a little bit quieter, just starting out,” she said, adding it won’t stay that way for long once they add a medical clinic to the site.

Working in a pharmacy, Adams said the staff at both locations is aware of the potential for a robbery and this incident has heightened the awareness and level of safety for employees by forcing them to emphasize their precautionary measures.

“Our staff at Westfort was amazing in how they handled the situation,” she said. “They made sure it was minimal time that the person was in the store and followed the procedures to lock the door immediately after and secure the location.”