SYDNEY COPS LINK PAINKILLERS TO RISE IN CRIME

Woman Robbed Pharmacy in Broad Daylight to Get Fix

Sydney - It's become the new drug of choice on the streets and causing
police plenty of trouble these days.

Oxycontin, a narcotic painkiller, heads a list of prescription drugs that
are turning desperate addicts to crime, says Staff Sgt. Paul Jobe, a drug
enforcement officer for Cape Breton Regional Police.

Tonya Leigh Morrison, 31, of Sydney was sentenced Wednesday to two years in
jail for robbing two pharmacists at knifepoint at Lawton's Drugs in Glace
Bay on 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 Oxys.

In court Tuesday, Ms. Morrison laughed, cried, whispered and motioned to
people in the gallery. At one point she hissed at arresting officer Const.
Pat Reid, who expressed sympathy for the troubled woman during a court
break, when he walked by.

"I just wanted to say I have an exemplary military record, student record,
community record," Ms. Morrison replied when asked if she had anything to
say before sentencing. She didn't offer an apology.

Her daily drug intake includes 14 Oxys, plus up to 10 Valium and an
antidepressant. Eight Oxycontins can kill a person if no tolerance has been
built up.

The drug is normally prescribed to ease the pain of terminally ill cancer
patients.

Police didn't recover more than a handful of the stolen pills, even though
they arrested her within a couple of hours. The rest are believed to have
been distributed to local drug dealers.

Court was told Ms. Morrison, like others who've come before judges in
recent weeks, began taking pills after she was injured in a fall. She was
in the military, was a community volunteer and a mother, was educated and
had never committed a crime.

Since she's become addicted, she's lived on the streets, doesn't work and
her family has been torn apart.

Judge Brian Williston urged her to get the treatment she needs while in
custody in Truro. She'll also serve a year of probation upon her release,
has to submit a DNA sample to the national database, and is banned for life
from possessing weapons.

"You have a serious addiction but I hope you realize the nightmare you
caused people who've been on the receiving end of this," the judge said,
referring to the pharmacists.

Joe Rizzetto, Ms. Morrison's lawyer, told reporters later that doctors need
to be careful when dispensing the drug because of its powerfully addictive
nature.

"I'm not saying doctors are overprescribing it but sometimes the drugs are
not getting to the people they're intended for."

Staff Sgt. Jobe said police recognize that crimes to feed drug habits are
rising dramatically.

One 80-milligram Oxycontin pill is worth $40 to $80 on Sydney streets. The
drug can be taken orally or by injection.

He said people prescribed Oxycontin can become extremely paranoid and
dangerous. Those trying to beat their addiction suffer "basically the
withdrawal of a cocaine addict."

The high produced by Oxycontin gives the person a sense of euphoria and
alertness, but it can be deadly if combined with alcohol.