# What can we do to prevent pharmacy robberies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 16, 2014, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-to-prevent-pharmacy-robberies/698622 "2014-09-16T03:08:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-to-prevent-pharmacy-robberies/698622/1 "2014-09-16T03:08:30Z")
Here in Maine, it seems like I hear about a couple of pharmacy robberies every week, usually done by junkies looking for Oxycontin-like drugs. However there are very few bank robberies, perhaps because banks have coming up with more and more security measures since the 1800’s. Could pharmacies do something about this to make sure that this doesn’t keep happening? This seems like a major safety issue. There was one day I was in Boston for an event, I was walking through town, and I wanted a drink. To my surprise, the police had shut down the nearest CVS because somebody called in a bomb threat to rob the store. ---
**Author:** ![buddy431](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@buddy431](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddy431)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-to-prevent-pharmacy-robberies/698622/2 "2014-09-16T03:11:05Z")
[GPS trackers in the loot](http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/23779252/possible-pharmacy-crime-spree) ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-to-prevent-pharmacy-robberies/698622/3 "2014-09-16T04:58:45Z")
You could eliminate controlled substances from most pharmacies and only have them available at a few pharmacies with good security. ---
**Author:** ![Onyerbike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onyerbike/32/5402_2.png) [@Onyerbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onyerbike)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-to-prevent-pharmacy-robberies/698622/4 "2014-09-16T11:03:59Z")
Or as a further alternative you could legalise professionally made recreational drugs and make a tax out of it as well - probably a hefty one. I’m sure there is a much better price point for things that will forever be in demand and which currently cannot be suppressed without willful tyranny and that eats up cash not makes it. Cut the bottom out of two bad markets at once - the demand for powerful and violent gangs to control everything about a drug; quality, safety and price. Second is the demand for junkies to have cash to buy those dangerous drugs from them - usually the sort of thing that drives them to rob pharmacies. The net result is society is better off in both cases, I would think. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-to-prevent-pharmacy-robberies/698622/5 "2014-09-16T11:14:35Z")
Trouble is, people disagree on how far to go with drug legalization, and crystal meth, which also suffers from the pharmacy problem, is often one cited as a “keep it illegal” even from most drug legalization advocate, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Onyerbike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onyerbike/32/5402_2.png) [@Onyerbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onyerbike)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-to-prevent-pharmacy-robberies/698622/6 "2014-09-16T11:55:30Z")
Oh absolutely, broad consensus on something like that would be hard to find. A good debate where everything is potentially on the table and anybody can opine can find worthy outcomes, though, even if some of the talk gets rough. I don’t think it is a good enough reason to shy away from a debate if its worth having in the first place because some people in it won’t agree with each other. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-to-prevent-pharmacy-robberies/698622/7 "2014-09-16T12:17:23Z")
> [@Onyerbike](#): > > I’m sure there is a much better price point for things that will forever be in demand and which currently cannot be suppressed without willful tyranny and that eats up cash not makes it. By a “better price point”, you mean cheaper, yes? No. Creating an easier path for people to become addicted to recreational drugs is not a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-to-prevent-pharmacy-robberies/698622/8 "2014-09-16T12:31:57Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > By a “better price point”, you mean cheaper, yes? > > No. Creating an easier path for people to become addicted to recreational drugs is not a good thing. But making something legal so someone who is addicted has an easier time getting help, and is less likely to rob/steal/burgle in order to pay for their habit, _is_ a good thing. Drug crime is one of the really clear areas where the “cure” of drug laws is worse than the “disease” of drug use. Look what happened to Portugal when they went through their decriminalization efforts - drug use plummeted. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-to-prevent-pharmacy-robberies/698622/9 "2014-09-16T12:37:32Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > Here in Maine, it seems like I hear about a couple of pharmacy robberies every week, usually done by junkies looking for Oxycontin-like drugs. However there are very few bank robberies… There’s your answer: Let banks sell prescription drugs. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-to-prevent-pharmacy-robberies/698622/10 "2014-09-16T12:45:49Z")
Staged legalization, opening regulated and taxed markets for drugs that are relatively harmless (using, say, alcohol as a benchmark) while keeping the more dangerous ones illegal. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e79b87/32.png) [@The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Joker_and_the_Thief)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-to-prevent-pharmacy-robberies/698622/11 "2014-09-16T15:29:36Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > There’s your answer: Let banks sell prescription drugs. “I’d like my interest paid in Vicodin, please.” ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-to-prevent-pharmacy-robberies/698622/12 "2014-09-16T15:40:33Z")
> [@The\_Joker\_and\_the\_Thief](#): > > “I’d like my interest paid in Vicodin, please.” I actually feel better about that than paying interest in the form of guns, truth be told. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-to-prevent-pharmacy-robberies/698622/13 "2014-09-16T15:58:44Z")
Well, I suppose we could follow the logic behind some responses to the nude-photo hack, and quit having pharmacies. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-to-prevent-pharmacy-robberies/698622/14 "2014-09-16T17:23:30Z")
Have certain drugs only available via mail. When my MD writes a script he sends it via computer to my insurance pharmacy and I get it the very next day in my mail box. If he has some of the med on hand he’ll give me sample packs to use until I get the full prescription. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-to-prevent-pharmacy-robberies/698622/15 "2014-09-16T17:28:29Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > the police had shut down the nearest CVS because **somebody called in a bomb threat to rob the store.** Huh? Sounds like calling in a bomb threat would draw attention in precisely the way a robber would not want. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-to-prevent-pharmacy-robberies/698622/16 "2014-09-16T17:40:02Z")
How about colonoscopy prep disguised as oxycontin to give to robbers. I am about half serious. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-to-prevent-pharmacy-robberies/698622/17 "2014-09-16T17:40:17Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Huh? Sounds like calling in a bomb threat would draw attention in precisely the way a robber would not want. Yes, but when was the last time you heard of an addict desperate for a drug fix making a GOOD decision when they are trying to get it? ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-to-prevent-pharmacy-robberies/698622/18 "2014-09-16T23:12:57Z")
[QUOTE=pkbites] Have certain drugs only available via mail. [/QUOTE] So now it’s your mail carrier that gets robbed. The pharmacist at least has a building to offer some protection. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-to-prevent-pharmacy-robberies/698622/19 "2014-09-16T23:28:43Z")
no one would dare rob a mail carrier the USPS uniform commands respect ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-to-prevent-pharmacy-robberies/698622/20 "2014-09-16T23:41:55Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > no one would dare rob a mail carrier > > the USPS uniform commands respect Postal robbery does happen, but there’s no particular reason to think that a particular carrier has controlled substances in their bag or truck on a given day. Pharmacy robbers go to where the drugs are. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-to-prevent-pharmacy-robberies/698622.md?page=2)