Hunger for opioids makes Nova Scotia pharmacies a target for robbers

In March 2016, a man entered Nova Pharmacy and convenience store on Coburg Road in Halifax with a knife and grabbed one of Peter Jorna's employees.

"[He] forced one of the staff into the dispensary, put a knife to her neck and demanded the narcotic safe be opened and money from the till, and then left," said Jorna, the pharmacy owner.

No employee was physically injured, but the robber cleaned out the safe and stole $3,000 worth of narcotics.

One month later, the pharmacy was robbed again.

"The individual came in quickly with a mask and a gun got everyone to lie on the ground, grabbed the contents of the till and left," said Jorna.

Pharmacy robberies on the rise

Jorna's staff were left shaken and fearful.

They are not alone. Over the last few months, Nova Scotia has seen a jump in the number of pharmacy robberies, according to the Pharmacy Association of Nova Scotia.

It's a problem that's been going on across the country for the last few years, said Alistair Bursey, chair of the Canadian Pharmacists Association.

Many opioids are commonly used as painkillers, but can become addictive.

Bursey said many of the sources of opioids and other narcotics on the street are drying up because there's been a crackdown on prescribing narcotics.

The adoption of electronic drug information systems across the country makes it easier for doctors and pharmacists to track where drugs are going. It also helps stop people from getting multiple prescriptions from different doctors.

"What we're seeing is that there's two avenues [to get narcotics]. One is violent robberies against pharmacists, which is a very, very big concern of ours. The other issue is the illicit opioids just gripping Alberta, B.C. … These are illicit substances that a lot of the drug dealers are buying online from China," said Bursey.

It's hard to determine exactly how many of these robberies have happened. Both the Nova Scotia and national pharmacy associations are in the process of researching that.

In Nova Scotia, RCMP have dealt with 17 pharmacy robberies in the last six years in the rural areas they police. There have been between two and four robberies each year.

Those numbers exclude metro Halifax and any community with its own police force, such as Truro or the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. 

Halifax Regional Police said given the large number of robberies in the municipality each year, it would take a significant amount of time to determine how many involved pharmacies. A freedom of information request would be needed to obtain that number, police said.

Nova Scotia RCMP say the drug stolen most often from pharmacies is the opioid hydromorphone.

Spokesperson Cpl. Dal Hutchinson said in general people rob pharmacies because they're hooked on a drug and can't get it anywhere else, or they intend to sell the drugs on the street, and sometimes it's a combination of the two.

"People will go to any lengths to obtain these drugs," said Hutchinson.

Lingering trauma

This puts front-line pharmacy staff in harm's way.

The psychological impact of being robbed is significant, and some people don't return to work after an incident.

"A number of these robberies involve robbery with a firearm or other types of weapons and, you know, having a firearm pointed at you or threatened to be used on you, or a knife is an extremely traumatic event that never leaves you," said Hutchinson.

He said the best thing pharmacy workers can do in a robbery is to hand over whatever the robber is looking for. This approach is also shared by the national and provincial pharmacy associations, and Jorna.

Jorna has beefed up security at his pharmacy since the robberies. Panic buttons have been installed in the building and the dispensary area now has an automatic locking door to prevent unauthorized entry. His pharmacy staff were also trained on how to handle robberies.

Despite the improvements, Jorna isn't confident his store won't be hit again.

"Chances are it's going to happen again. Hopefully, it's someone who is just focused on just obtaining drugs and leaving without hurting someone," he said.