Police Provide Kits To Town's 6 Pharmacies

PULASKI HOPES FINGERPRINT SYSTEM WILL STAMP OUT OXYCONTIN ABUSE

The system's manufacturer said Pulaski is the only town using the invisible
fingerprint system to target OxyContin abuse.

Pulaski pharmacies plan to strike back at illegal OxyContin users with a
few dabs of invisible ink.

The Pulaski Police Department is providing the six pharmacies in town with
fingerprint kits. Pharmacists will ask customers requesting OxyContin
prescriptions to dip their forefinger in invisible ink then stamp it on
special paper. The prints will be attached to the prescriptions and kept at
the pharmacy.

If officers find out that a prescription has been stolen or falsified, they
can identify a suspect from the prints. Officers hope the fingerprints will
curb people from stealing or writing false prescriptions for the highly
addictive drug.

When abused by addicts who crush the pills and then snort or inject the
powder, OxyContin is the pharmaceutical equivalent of heroin. Since 1998,
37 people west of Roanoke have died of overdoses attributed to oxycodone,
the active ingredient in OxyContin.

The fingerprint system, manufactured by the South Carolina-based company
CrimeBite, is already used in several grocery stores before payroll checks
are cashed. If a check comes back as counterfeit or stolen, management can
find the perpetrator through their fingerprint.

Lydia del Rossi, president of CrimeBite, said Pulaski is the only town she
knows of that is using the invisible fingerprint system to target OxyContin
abuse. Some psychiatrists in Louisiana use the system when they disperse
narcotics in Louisiana.

But OxyContin isn't the only drug officers are worried about. Fingerprints
may also be taken before several other narcotics are administered.
Pharmacists will meet with officers July 18 to decide how the kits will be
used.

"If we take just one or two bad bottles off the street a month then we've
accomplished a lot," said Detective Marshall Dowdy. "I feel like we're
making progress, but I also feel like sometimes it's a never-ending battle."

It's not clear how many cases of false prescriptions occur in the town.
Pulaski Kroger pharmacist Leslie King said she knows of very few occasions
where someone has stolen and filled a prescription. But she is interested
in fingerprinting additional customers to make sure the right people get
their medications.

"Once that fingerprint is there, it's hard to say you didn't do it," King
said. "I don't know if it will cut down on people who are using it, but
maybe it will make people realize it is a felony."

As part of the program, officers are also talking to residents about which
medications are a hot commodity and what they can do to protect their
prescriptions.

Statistics are not available from the Police Department, but Crime
Prevention Officer Vicky Frazier said the rate of larcenies has increased
since OxyContin come into the area. Police statistics show that between
January and June of this year there have been 1,800 drug-related cases in
the town of 9,500 people.