BIDDEFORD — With a rise in abuse of prescription painkillers and crimes related to addiction, the Biddeford Police Department is being proactive in responding to the problem.

Today, the manufacturer of one of the most abused and most powerful painkillers on the market hosted a training session for law enforcement officers at the Biddeford Police Department. The training included education about prescription drugs as well as tools and strategies about how to deal with prescription drug related crimes.

In the past 13 months, there have been six robberies at pharmacies within the city for the powerful prescription painkiller OxyContin, said Biddeford Police Chief Roger Beaupre. Seventy-five reports of stolen prescription drugs have been made in the past two years, he said.

It did not come as a surprise, said Beaupre, that a federal report released last month documented that Maine has the highest percentage of residents being treated for addiction to painkillers in the nation.

In 2008, 386 of very 100,000 Maine residents 12 years old or older were admitted for painkiller addition treatment, according to a report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

In an effort to combat crimes related to prescription narcotic abuse, 54 law enforcement officials from York and Cumberland counties took an eight-hour course today provided by Rich Zenuch and Ed Cartwright from Purdue Pharma’s Law Enforcement Liaison & Education Department. The company, which manufactures OxyContin, is funding the program.

In 2007, Purdue Pharma, the company that manufacturers OxyContin, was fined $600 million by the U.S. government for misrepresenting the addictiveness of the drug.

“The training came about because of our experience with these pharmaceutical robberies over the past 1 1/2 years,” said Beaupre.

The latest of the six OxyContin robberies was at the Biddeford Rite-Aid on Alfred Street on Dec. 28. An unspecified amount of OxyContin was taken from pharmacy employees, according to Biddeford Police, and a gun was involved. Police have identified a suspect in the case, said Beaupre, but no arrest has been made. In four of the five other pharmacy robberies involving OxyContin, Biddeford Police have arrested suspects, said the police chief.

While none of the robberies so far have resulted in injury, Beaupre said he is concerned that there may be an escalation of violence in these types of robberies and that someday someone may be hurt.

One strategy the Police Department already uses in combating the problem of abuse of prescribed painkillers is to report to the prescribing physician when one of his or her patients reports that their medication has been stolen.

Beaupre said he believes some of these reports are a result of drug diversion, and the patient is either overusing their medication because of addiction to the drug or selling it. For instance, he said, one person has reported four times that their prescribed medication has been stolen.

The Police Department is also working to identify medical professionals who have a high rate of prescribing narcotic medication.

To increase the effectiveness of dealing with crimes related to prescription painkillers, Beaupre said, there needs to be a team approach between law enforcement, medical professionals and pharmacies.

“We all have to work together,” he said.

One action pharmacies can take, said the police chief, is to not make prescription painkillers readily available. For instance, he said, they could have a 24-hour waiting period before filling a prescription.

In addition, he said, law enforcement agencies should also coordinate their efforts.

Beaupre said he is working with the Drug Enforcement Agency to have the recent robbery at Rite-Aid treated as a federal crime.

In addition, he said, the training taking place today in Biddeford should be a basic course that all police officers take at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy.

The training, said Rick Zenuch, director of Purdue Pharma’s Law Enforcement Liaison & Education Department, is a full-day session to help officers understand the issues involved.

Law enforcement officials know how to handle common street drugs like cocaine and heroin but have less familiarity with legally prescribed medication, said Zenuch.

His team will educate officers about the different types of prescription narcotics commonly abused as well as common scams and crimes committed related to these drugs.

Purdue Pharma is increasing its efforts in New England, said Zenuch, because of an increase of prescribed narcotic-related crimes in the area.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.