Pubdate: Thu, 06 Mar 2003
Source: Halifax Herald (CN NS)
Copyright: 2003 The Halifax Herald Limited
Contact:  http://www.herald.ns.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/180
Author: Tera Camus

SYDNEY COPS LINK PAINKILLERS TO RISE IN CRIME

Woman Robbed Pharmacy in Broad Daylight to Get Fix

Sydney - It's become the new drug of choice on the streets and causing 
police plenty of trouble these days.

Oxycontin, a narcotic painkiller, heads a list of prescription drugs that 
are turning desperate addicts to crime, says Staff Sgt. Paul Jobe, a drug 
enforcement officer for Cape Breton Regional Police.

Tonya Leigh Morrison, 31, of Sydney was sentenced Wednesday to two years in 
jail for robbing two pharmacists at knifepoint at Lawton's Drugs in Glace 
Bay on Feb. 24.

She stole 1,362 Oxycontins - worth up to $36,000 on the street - after she 
walked unmasked into the store in broad daylight and demanded, with 
apologies, all the store's Oxys.

In court Tuesday, Ms. Morrison laughed, cried, whispered and motioned to 
people in the gallery. At one point she hissed at arresting officer Const. 
Pat Reid, who expressed sympathy for the troubled woman during a court 
break, when he walked by.

"I just wanted to say I have an exemplary military record, student record, 
community record," Ms. Morrison replied when asked if she had anything to 
say before sentencing. She didn't offer an apology.

Her daily drug intake includes 14 Oxys, plus up to 10 Valium and an 
antidepressant. Eight Oxycontins can kill a person if no tolerance has been 
built up.

The drug is normally prescribed to ease the pain of terminally ill cancer 
patients.

Police didn't recover more than a handful of the stolen pills, even though 
they arrested her within a couple of hours. The rest are believed to have 
been distributed to local drug dealers.

Court was told Ms. Morrison, like others who've come before judges in 
recent weeks, began taking pills after she was injured in a fall. She was 
in the military, was a community volunteer and a mother, was educated and 
had never committed a crime.

Since she's become addicted, she's lived on the streets, doesn't work and 
her family has been torn apart.

Judge Brian Williston urged her to get the treatment she needs while in 
custody in Truro. She'll also serve a year of probation upon her release, 
has to submit a DNA sample to the national database, and is banned for life 
from possessing weapons.

"You have a serious addiction but I hope you realize the nightmare you 
caused people who've been on the receiving end of this," the judge said, 
referring to the pharmacists.

Joe Rizzetto, Ms. Morrison's lawyer, told reporters later that doctors need 
to be careful when dispensing the drug because of its powerfully addictive 
nature.

"I'm not saying doctors are overprescribing it but sometimes the drugs are 
not getting to the people they're intended for."

Staff Sgt. Jobe said police recognize that crimes to feed drug habits are 
rising dramatically.

One 80-milligram Oxycontin pill is worth $40 to $80 on Sydney streets. The 
drug can be taken orally or by injection.

He said people prescribed Oxycontin can become extremely paranoid and 
dangerous. Those trying to beat their addiction suffer "basically the 
withdrawal of a cocaine addict."

The high produced by Oxycontin gives the person a sense of euphoria and 
alertness, but it can be deadly if combined with alcohol.
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