PROCEDURE TO PREVENT OXYCONTIN STREET SALE

The Raleigh County Sheriff's Department has devised a procedure
officers think will eliminate OxyContin being sold on the street - one
they hope more agencies will copy.

OxyContin is a controlled substance, Lt. Steve Tanner pointed out, so
the only way for people wishing to sell it on the street to get it is
for someone to sell them a prescription or to break into a pharmacy.
The latter isn't that likely, Tanner said, because few pharmacies keep
OxyContin on hand.

So the sheriff's department created a system to make it more difficult
for people who sell their prescriptions to obtain another.

If someone's prescription has been stolen, the only way to get another
is to take a police report of the theft to the doctor.

RCSD is making the generation of that report harder by requiring the
"victim" of the theft to have a blood screening done to determine its
level of OxyContin.

If the level is therapeutic level, they must still have the OxyContin,
Tanner said, and the theft claim is false.

If the level is higher than therapeutic, the medication is being
abused and the person can't get another prescription.

If the level is lower than therapeutic, an investigation is begun. The
first step is to run the person's name through the Tri-Lateral Drug
Enforcement Network Team (TRIDENT) to see if there are any previous
drug-related charges against the person.

Only if the investigation reveals there has truly been a burglary or
theft will the person receive a police report, Tanner said, at which
time they can get another OxyContin prescription.

"We think all agencies should do this," Sheriff Danny Moore said. "Can
you imagine how much OxyContin we could take off the streets?"