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MEDICINE EASY TO FIND ON THE STREET

There is never a shortage of prescription pills on the street in Onslow County.While cocaine and marijuana sources run dry from time to time, the supply of prescription pills seems endless, said narcotics officers with the Onslow County Sheriff's and Holly Ridge Police departments.  "Drugs are about supply and demand, but with pills, the supply is so great there is never a shortage of them," Holly Ridge Police Chief John Maiorano said.  "The most popular are the opiates."Opiates, derived from opium poppies, are prescribed mainly as pain killers, OxyContin being the most recognized brand name available, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.  And there has been an upswing in the number of pain pills available on the street in Onslow County recently, Sheriff's Capt.  Rick Sutherland said.  Narcotics detectives with the Sheriff's Department explained that the source of prescription pills has them constantly changing enforcement tactics.  "There is no legitimate source of cocaine, but prescription pills are easily obtained legally," a Sheriff's sergeant in the narcotics division told The Daily News.  His name is withheld from publication because he frequently works undercover operations.

The sergeant said there are several ways pills hit the street: People go "doctor shopping," which means they visit several different doctors until they find one willing to issue prescriptions without asking a lot of questions.

They steal prescription pads and write their own counterfeit prescriptions.  People go to local methadone clinics claiming to be hooked on heroin just to get the pills prescribed to help kick the habit.

"They will go on Saturday knowing the clinic is closed on Sunday and get two days worth of pills and either abuse the supply themselves or sell it to someone else," Sutherland said.

People are also "stepping inside the system to get pills," Maiorano said.  In May, detectives with the Holly Ridge and Surf City police departments teamed up to make one of the largest drug busts in the state this year.  A Kinston pharmaceutical distribution center employee who police say stole and distributed more than 55,000 pills with a street value of more than $250,000 was arrested during a sting operation.

Sutherland said that while street-level enforcement remains the same for pills and illicit drugs like cocaine and marijuana, the prescription pill supply has to be attacked in a different way.

Undercover buys, the use of informants and traffic stops all help in the fight to control prescription drug abuse.

But, Sutherland said, law enforcement and the medical community need to form a stronger partnership to ensure people who need prescription drugs for legitimate medical reasons can get them while preventing access by people who plan to abuse the drugs.