C.B. ADDICTS PREY ON MOURNERS

Homes broken into in search of drugs as cancer victims' families attend
funerals

Sydney - Families who've lost relatives to cancer are being targeted for
funeral-day break-ins by desperate drug addicts after unused pain killers,
Cape Breton regional police warn.

And they're combing the obituaries to find their victims.

Cape Breton Regional drug enforcement officer Const. Greg Gouthro told this
newspaper several homes have been broken into by addicts seeking the
narcotic Oxycontin when families are attending funerals.

"When they're being buried, we've had people breaking into their homes to
find prescriptions," he said. "A lot of cancer patients use Oxy's and when
they eventually die, because they die of cancer, some people think that they
had Oxy's (in the home)."

The highly addictive drug, known on the street as "hillbilly heroin" for its
relatively cheap buzz, is prescribed by more doctors in Cape Breton than
elsewhere in the province and has been linked to escalating crime in the
area.

The drug is used to battle chronic pain and often prescribed to terminally
ill cancer patients.

Published obituaries often contain requests for donations in lieu of flowers
to favourite charities - like the Canadian Cancer Society. They also contain
addresses and the time when the funeral will take place. Most potential
criminals seeking a fix can also read. "In a few cases, we believe
(Oxycontin) was the motive for the break-in," Const. Gouthro said.

He said families and funeral homes who send obituaries to newspapers need to
know there is a risk of being targeted by criminals.

A spokesman for the Canadian Cancer Society couldn't be reached for comment.

But a staff member reached Friday said donations by way of obituaries
received annually would likely be lower if people stopped requests in death
notices.

Earlier this year, several weapons-related holdups occurred at businesses in
industrial Cape Breton by heavily addicted men and women seeking Oxycontin.
One pill can sell on the street for $40 to $80, depending on the number of
milligrams per pill.

The Lawtons Drugs in Glace Bay was held up this year, but no cash was taken.

Tonya Leigh Morrison, 31, of Sydney was sentenced in May to serve two years
in jail for robbing two pharmacists at knifepoint Feb. 24.

She stole 1,362 Oxycontins - worth up to $36,000 on the street - after she
walked unmasked into the store in broad daylight and demanded, with
apologies, all the store's Oxy's. All the pills were sold to street dealers
within a couple of hours.

Const. Gouthro said his force is now working with local pharmacists to
control the amount of pills getting on the street by cutting down the size
of prescriptions.

This would not only thwart thieves but limit the selling of legitimately
obtained drugs.

Some people who are getting the prescriptions are selling pills to dealers,
he said.

"If they get a prescription for 10 instead of 50, they're not going to sell
them because they'll need them."

Some pharmacists in the area have agreed with police to dispense only a
week's supply at a time, despite a doctor's order written on prescriptions.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons told this newspaper it wasn't
practical to provide only a week's supply. Instead it suggested, the
provincial drug monitoring program now in place improve the way it monitors
the legal drug trade.

The drug, when abused, causes people to become extremely paranoid and
dangerous. Those trying to beat their addiction suffer withdrawal symptoms
similar to a cocaine or heroin addict.