'HILLBILLY HEROIN' TOP CHOICE OF PHARMACY THIEVES

The recent violent robbery of two pharmacy store employees in Surrey
has renewed concern over the highly sought after drug OxyContin.

Surrey RCMP on Tuesday issued the warning after they went public to
track down two suspects from a pre-Christmas robbery.

The robbery on Dec. 6, 2010, at 12:51 p.m. at a pharmacy in the
5600-block 177B Avenue resulted in two employees of the store being
badly beaten.

While in the pharmacy the two suspects demanded OxyContin.

The employees were assaulted at knifepoint and told to open the store
safe. After grabbing the contents, the suspects fled across a
schoolyard and into a waiting vehicle.

The men are described as being in their 20s, about five feet eight
inches to five feet 10 inches, clad in dark sweats with hoods, dark
gloves, jeans and runners.

Violent incidents are on the rise across Canada in pharmacies that
store the drug, known as "hillbilly heroin" in the U.S.

As the list of OxyContin robberies grows, the B.C. Pharmacy
Association robbery task force has been busy working to offer
solutions to the spate of armed holdups aimed at grabbing the
powerful narcotic.

Association figures show that between May 2007 and August 2009 there
were 52 pharmacy robberies in the Lower Mainland.

The 2,500-member group is working with police and a Simon Fraser
University criminologist to look at ways to prevent the robberies.

Abbotsford Const. Ian MacDonald on Tuesday said that an increasing
number of mid-level gangsters are popping the drug.

The synthetic opiate is used to control intense pain, and it removes
inhibitions when it comes to violent acts. An 80-milligram pill can fetch $80.

"The bulk of the robberies [at drugstores] are for OyxContin,"
MacDonald said. The drug "is really prevalent among gangsters."