Thursday, November 18, 2010

Painkiller sting hurts druggist

From the Toronto Sun:
There wasn't a prescription Gregory Melville wouldn't fill.

And when the London pharmacist couldn't help with a doctor's script, he had other ways to help fill a customer's need.

Now, in a twist more like the fate of a street drug dealer than a pharmacist who had his own store, Melville will pay -- his licence will be yanked, he no longer has his pharmacy and he's working in a call centre.

That's on top of the court penalties dished out to the 46-year-old Tuesday -- a two-year conditional sentence that includes nine months of house arrest, two years' probation and 75 hours of community service.

The rare tale of how the druggist went down was the fallout of a London police sting.

Tuesday, Melville pleaded guilty to four charges -- possession of crime proceeds valued under $5,000, possession of oxycodone and two counts of drug trafficking -- stemming from a police investigation two years ago.

Oxycodone, a powerful painkiller known as "hillybilly heroin" on the street, is widely trafficked to addicts, some of whom get hooked after legitimately using it to relieve chronic pain. ...more

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