President Obama Signs “Safe Doses Act” to Combat Pharmacy Robberies

President Obama has just signed a new law that doubles sentences for pharmacy theft from 10 to 20 years. This new law specifically targets the robbery, delivery and sale of medical goods from pharmacies and also holds the thieves responsible for any deaths that result from stolen drugs.
From 2006 to 2011, there was an 82 percent increase in pharmacy theft from 2006-11. The amount of robberies went up from 385 to 701. In that period, 3,535 pharmacies were robbed.
New York Senator Charles Schumer co-sponsored the new law, called the Safe Doses Act, that provides police wire tap access to battle drug rings.
In a recent news release, Schumer said, “The SAFE DOSES Act will help cops put a lid on the prescription drug epidemic that is spilling across New York State and the entire country, and will also ensure that powerful prescriptions, like OxyContin and hydrocodone, make it from the factory to the patient, and nowhere else. Pharmacy robberies have put our communities in danger and have turned deadly in the last year – and today the federal government can respond by providing our heroes in blue the tools to fight back.”
Often, cities and states lack enough resources and funding to tackle drug rings and dismantle their operations. This new law increases the ability of the federal government to combat theft along every point of the supply chain for stolen pharmaceuticals.