Pubdate: Wed, 23 Aug 2006
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2006, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Matthew Kwong
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone)

STOLEN NARCOTIC OFTEN DEADLY, POLICE SAY

VANCOUVER -- A lethal cocktail of stolen methadone may be "liquid 
gold" for drug pushers, but the concentrated narcotic could be a 
killer to addicts on the streets, Vancouver police warned yesterday.

Breaking into a pharmacy's supply of locked and refrigerated 
methadone, thieves swiped two four-litre milk jugs filled with a 
blend of methadone and grape-flavoured Tang, nine bottles of the 
liquid concentrate and three 300-gram bottles of powder concentrate.

The crime was reminiscent of a pharmacy break-in last August when, in 
only two weeks, more than a dozen addicts died, overdosing from what 
was believed to be stolen methadone.

"Our concern is this ends up out on the street and drug addicts end 
up using this in an incorrect concentration," Constable Howard Chow 
said yesterday during a newsconference. "We don't want to see a 
repeat of what took place last year."

Drug detox centres may use methadone -- a synthetic narcotic similar 
to morphine -- to wean addicts off heroin, since it reduces 
withdrawal symptoms.

A 300-gram bottle of the powdered concentrate can be diluted into as 
many as 75 of the four-litre milk jugs, or the equivalent of 300,000 
millilitres of methadone.

The average user is supposed to ingest about 250 millilitres a day, 
Constable Chow said.

Methadone is white in powder form and clear as liquid concentrate.

"They may mix it with anything; you'll see that over here," Constable 
Chow said. "It's mixed with Tang, so it's kind of a purplish colour. 
You can mix it with any sort of juice."

Although police would not identify which pharmacy was targeted so as 
to avoid copycat crimes, they confirmed it was not the same store 
robbed last August. Constable Chow also said there's no indication 
the culprits were the same as in last year's incident.

None of those suspects was found and the drugs were never recovered.

"You've got some pretty persistent criminals, undoubtedly, that are 
trying to get their hands on what, to them, is liquid gold," he said. 
"We're asking anyone who comes across these bottles to immediately 
call 911. Keep an eye on them, get a hold of us. We need to get these 
off the streets."

Police have contacted nearby hospitals to be on alert for overdoses 
that could be related to the theft.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom