POLICE RECEIVE DRUG ABUSE TRAINING

BIDDEFORD -- With a rise in abuse of prescription painkillers and crimes
related to addiction, the Biddeford Police Department is being proactive
in responding to the problem.

Today, the manufacturer of one of the most abused and most powerful
painkillers on the market hosted a training session for law
enforcement officers at the Biddeford Police Department. The training
included education about prescription drugs as well as tools and
strategies about how to deal with prescription drug related crimes.

In the past 13 months, there have been six robberies at pharmacies
within the city for the powerful prescription painkiller OxyContin,
said Biddeford Police Chief Roger Beaupre. Seventy-five reports of
stolen prescription drugs have been made in the past two years, he
said.

It did not come as a surprise, said Beaupre, that a federal report
released last month documented that Maine has the highest percentage
of residents being treated for addiction to painkillers in the nation.

In 2008, 386 of very 100,000 Maine residents 12 years old or older
were admitted for painkiller addition treatment, according to a report
by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

In an effort to combat crimes related to prescription narcotic abuse,
54 law enforcement officials from York and Cumberland counties took an
eight-hour course today provided by Rich Zenuch and Ed Cartwright from
Purdue Pharma's Law Enforcement Liaison & Education Department. The
company, which manufactures OxyContin, is funding the program.

In 2007, Purdue Pharma, the company that manufacturers OxyContin, was
fined $600 million by the U.S. government for misrepresenting the
addictiveness of the drug.

"The training came about because of our experience with these
pharmaceutical robberies over the past 1 1/2 years," said Beaupre.

The latest of the six OxyContin robberies was at the Biddeford
Rite-Aid on Alfred Street on Dec. 28. An unspecified amount of
OxyContin was taken from pharmacy employees, according to Biddeford
Police, and a gun was involved. Police have identified a suspect in
the case, said Beaupre, but no arrest has been made. In four of the
five other pharmacy robberies involving OxyContin, Biddeford Police
have arrested suspects, said the police chief.

While none of the robberies so far have resulted in injury, Beaupre
said he is concerned that there may be an escalation of violence in
these types of robberies and that someday someone may be hurt.

One strategy the Police Department already uses in combating the
problem of abuse of prescribed painkillers is to report to the
prescribing physician when one of his or her patients reports that
their medication has been stolen.

Beaupre said he believes some of these reports are a result of drug
diversion, and the patient is either overusing their medication
because of addiction to the drug or selling it. For instance, he said,
one person has reported four times that their prescribed medication
has been stolen.

The Police Department is also working to identify medical
professionals who have a high rate of prescribing narcotic medication.

To increase the effectiveness of dealing with crimes related to
prescription painkillers, Beaupre said, there needs to be a team
approach between law enforcement, medical professionals and pharmacies.

"We all have to work together," he said.

One action pharmacies can take, said the police chief, is to not make
prescription painkillers readily available. For instance, he said,
they could have a 24-hour waiting period before filling a
prescription.

In addition, he said, law enforcement agencies should also coordinate
their efforts.

Beaupre said he is working with the Drug Enforcement Agency to have
the recent robbery at Rite-Aid treated as a federal crime.

In addition, he said, the training taking place today in Biddeford
should be a basic course that all police officers take at the Maine
Criminal Justice Academy.

The training, said Rick Zenuch, director of Purdue Pharma's Law
Enforcement Liaison & Education Department, is a full-day session to
help officers understand the issues involved.

Law enforcement officials know how to handle common street drugs like
cocaine and heroin but have less familiarity with legally prescribed
medication, said Zenuch.

His team will educate officers about the different types of
prescription narcotics commonly abused as well as common scams and
crimes committed related to these drugs.

Purdue Pharma is increasing its efforts in New England, said Zenuch,
because of an increase of prescribed narcotic-related crimes in the
area.