Pharmacy Holdup Shines ‘Bright Light’ on Prescription Drug Abuse

Last weeks robbery at a Krakow pharmacy demonstrates the desperate steps people addicted to prescription drugs will take, the chief of Franklin Countys drug task force said.

This shines a bright light on the growing problem of opiate abuse, said Detective Sgt. Jason Grellner.

A man got away with a large amount of Percocet pills in the Tuesday, Aug. 28, afternoon robbery at Halls Pharmacy on Highway A. The robber claimed to have a gun but no weapon was displayed.

Following an extensive investigation which included an anonymous tip, detectives questioned, then arrested Matthew J. Florence, 24, of Washington, last Thursday afternoon.

Florence later was charged with one count each of first-degree pharmacy robbery and theft of a controlled substance, both felonies.

Florence is being held in the county jail on a $150,000 cash-only bond.

The charges are prosecuted under a specific state statute related to pharmacy crimes, authorities said.

Grellner said Florence, who has no prior felony charges, would never have committed the robbery had he not become addicted to prescription opiates.

One in four people who begin taking these drugs under a doctors prescription will become addicted, Grellner said citing statistical data.

He said while Americans account for 10 percent of the worlds population, they account for 90 percent of the worlds opiate use.

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Pharmacy Holdup Shines ‘Bright Light’ on Prescription Drug Abuse