Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Resident Home From Iraq Busted For Breaking Into Pharmacy
A resident who recently returned from service in Iraq reported he is addicted to a pain killer, when he was arrested for burglarizing a local pharmacy Monday night.
Lawrenceburg Police Officers were dispatched to Holland’s Pharmacy at 1333 South Locust Avenue around 11:30 p.m. when the burglar alarm was tripped.
As he neared the building, the reporting officer indicates he noticed a security guard from nearby Crockett Hospital speaking with a man a short distance away.
The officer reports that he parked at the pharmacy, saw that a window on the north side was open and the alarm still sounding, then quickly ran on foot to the guard’s vehicle.
The security guard stated that he had seen the man climbing from an open window at the pharmacy and detained him. The man detained was Thomas Patrick White, 33, of 498 Busby Road, Loretto.
While at first White denied having committed the crime, he eventually gave a written statement, admitting his transgression. He told the reporting officer that he had just got back from Iraq and “had a bad addiction to Lortabs.”
He indicated he had used a pry bar to open the window, climbed inside and took a bottle of the drug. The bottle containing 120 of the 10 mg pills was found on his person.
White told the officer that he had thrown the pry bar as he fled. He then took him to that area, and the pry bar was taken into evidence.
White was booked through the Lawrence County Jail on charges of burglary, theft and vandalism. He is scheduled for an initial appearance in Lawrence County General Sessions Court on April 1, 2011.
The following from PressTV.com
It's estimated well over 300,000 troops have returned from Iraq or Afghanistan with depression, post traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury. The widespread availability of prescription drugs is increasingly being linked by military officials to growing substance abuse, particularly with opiates.
Medications and narcotic painkillers are linked to drug dependency, fatal accidents and suicide. The army has put out public service announcements.
"Suicide Prevention month and our medical editor says there is no better time to seek help.
There are concerns how multiple prescription drugs interact, addiction powers and side effects.
According to a new survey by the Defense Department, the illegal use of prescription drugs has tripled.
Recreational drug use in the military can also lead to deadly results. Last year, five US soldiers took Hashish and confessed to ruthlessly and randomly murdering three innocent civilians in Afghanistan.
Across all branches of the military, spending on psychiatric drugs has more than doubled since in the last decade to $280 million.
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