Police question large accumulations of prescription drugs

Provincial police say there were some shocking results from last month's prescription drug drop off day as homeowners cleared out 1,600 kg of medications from medicine cabinets across Ontario.

'Why does this girl have 1,800 Tylenol 3's that she's never taken?' —Terry Thompson, Niagara Police Service

One woman in Niagara handed in 130 Fentanyl patches — and that wasn't an isolated example said detective sergeant Terry Thompson with the Niagara Police Service, who co-ordinated the drop-off program.     

"This is something that, as a service, we need to go to speak to the pharmacist and the doctor and find out how this is happening, why is this happening," he said. "Why does this girl have 1,800 Tylenol 3's that she's never taken?"

Extended prescriptions

Police are zeroing in on the amount of controlled narcotics people are accumulating, and for good reason.

In Sudbury, the manager of the needle exchange program said he sees plenty of prescription drug abuse on the streets.

Len Frappier said it's not difficult to accumulate such large amounts of narcotics — and the problem is exacerbated by the community’s doctor shortage.

"We have a lack of doctors, so they'd rather prescribe for a long period of time," he said.

The Ontario Medical Association and the College of Physicians and Surgeons did not have any comment on behalf of doctors.

But Thompson is hopeful they will talk with police about the issue. He said officers need "to go back and talk to the college of pharmacy, college of physicians and [tell them about] some of our horror stories with some of these medications."

With their help, police want to "find out what our next step is into preventing" such large accumulations of prescription drugs, he said.