Joke Highlights Serious Problem

It should have happened on April 1, 2011 instead of on Wednesday, April 13, 2011, but in any case, a pharmacist sure pulled a fast one on a thief!

Pharmacist Mac Clark work’s at Fred’s Drug Store down in Pascagoula and he’s tired of having someone break in and steal Lortab. Lortab is a combination of acetaminophin and hydrocodone, the latter of which is a narcotic pain reliever. The acetaminophin helps it to work better.

Several times in the past six months Fred’s Drug Store has been burglarized, with Lortab being the only thing that was stolen. So Mac Clarc decided it was time to use a decoy. He got a bag of kidney beans, and he put the beans into a large Lortab bottle. Around 6 a.m. Wednesday when the thief came back, all they got was the bottle of kidney beans. Aside from their surprise when they figured that out, the burglar also cut himself during the break-in, which was evidenced by a trail of blood leading away from the building. Good evidence, that.

Of course, it’s not likely that thieves will continue to fall for that ruse, although it’s certain that they saved a bundle of money this time, kidney beans being considerably cheaper than Lortab, and got a good laugh out of it as well. But seriously, this type of burglary is becoming more common across the country, and Fred’s may have to step up their security as some other drug stores have.

The DEA reported over 1800 armed robberies at pharmacies during the last three years, nationwide. Some pharmacies have installed iron bars over the windows and roll-down bars over the doors. Rite Aid has security cameras, and Walgreen’s has time lock security cabinets in some of their stores.

It’s sad to see, but pharmacies are having to become like banks when it comes to security measures, because, let’s face it, the products inside are worth a lot of the green stuff in the bank’s vault. When Oxycontin tablets can sell for about $60 each on the street, it’s no small time theft anymore.