Pharmacists worried by dramatic rise in GTA drugstore robberies

Drugstore robberies in Toronto and the GTA have skyrocketed since 2021 and pharmacists say not enough is being done to protect them.

Pharmacists point to the soaring street value of narcotics as the reason why they’re being violently targeted.

“Right now, with our safety, we’re just buzzing people in,” Chris Mandato, the manager at Courtesy Pharmacy in Mississauga tells CityNews.

Mandato says the doors to his pharmacy will remain locked even while the store is open. This comes on the heels of two attempted robberies in the last week, the latest on Thursday morning when three men came running into the store, one of them brandishing a knife.

“It’s always scary for any kind of incident, we don’t want anyone to get hurt,” said Mandato.

“Nobody wants to work in a place where they’re going to be threatened with their life.”

This type of incident is becoming the norm across the GTA. Toronto police say there has been a 153 per cent increase in pharmacy robberies since 2021, York Region police say robberies are up 350 per cent, while Peel Region has seen a 400 per cent rise in these types of crimes.

“It’s just happening way too often now – and doesn’t feel like anything’s being done,” said Mandato.

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The Ontario Pharmacists Association (OPA) tells CityNews the demand for narcotics has increased as a result of the worsening opioid crisis in Ontario. At the same time, it has become more difficult to rob pharmacies in other provinces.

“Perhaps some of that more organized crime type behaviour has come to Ontario where we don’t yet have some of those safety measures in place,” said Jan Belcher, a vice-president with the OPA.

The safety measure she’s referring to is the implementation of mandatory time-delayed safes at pharmacies. These devices keep narcotics and other high risk drugs locked for a least five minutes before access is granted, helping to deter thieves.

This measure has helped reduce pharmacy thefts by up to 95 per cent in British Columbia and Alberta.

Ontario’s College of Pharmacists is scheduled to vote in March on whether to make this a requirement at all provincial pharmacies. Belcher says the measure works best when it’s universal.

While the implementation of this process could slightly delay filling narcotics prescriptions, it won’t have a significant impact on operations.

As they wait for the decision to be made, other pharmacists who have been targeted are hopeful authorities can crack down on the criminals.

“The police need to be targeting the actual masterminds behind this because it’s getting really scary, it’s becoming extremely frequent,” said Lawlor Pharmacy owner Kyro Maseh.