Mangano: Rx drug abuse a 'health crisis'

Less than a week after an armed gunman robbed a Plainview pharmacy of hundreds of oxycodone pills, Nassau County officials stepped up efforts to eradicate the growing abuse of prescription drugs.

Last year, 98 people died in Nassau from opiate use, with one-third related to oxycodone use. Nationwide, abuse of prescription narcotics killed more people in 2010 than cocaine and heroin combined, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"We have a health crisis on our hands as prescription drug abuse in Nassau County and throughout Long Island has reached epidemic proportions," County Executive Edward Mangano said yesterday at Five Towns Pharmacy in Woodmere.

Nassau police made 127 arrests in 2010 in connection with opiates. Through August, opiate arrests have soared to 289 this year, Mangano said.

Two Nassau drugstores have been robbed this year, compared with none last year. Seven pharmacies have been robbed in Suffolk County this year. In 2010, there were 10 robberies in Suffolk. In June, four people were shot and killed during a robbery of hydrocodone pills at Haven Drugs in Medford.

Nassau police said pharmacists should consider not stocking certain controlled medications in their stores and ordering it only for customers with valid prescriptions.

Beginning next month, the county will host 10 drug disposal days for residents to turn over unwanted medication.

Mangano also directed Nassau's Heroin Prevention Task Force to create a subcommittee focused on studying prescription drug abuse and devising recommendations.