Carolyn Kaster / AP
In this March 17, 2020, file photo, pharmacist Evelyn Kim wears a mask and gloves at the CVS pharmacy at Target in the Tenleytown area of Washington.
Saturday, April 30, 2022 | 2 a.m.
Time-delayed safes will be installed in each of the 97 CVS Pharmacy locations across the state in a move that Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford said would act as a deterrent against retail theft as well as reduce illegal street sales of drugs like Percocet and Vicodin.
“The time-delayed safes the company says they will implement here will be, I believe, a successful deterrent in keeping drugs off our streets and to bulwark the safety of our communities,” Ford said. “Coupled with visible signage, letting would-be robbers know (these safes) are in place will introduce a considerable obstacle to retail theft in pharmacies.”
Tom Moriarty, chief policy officer and general counsel for CVS, said the time-delayed safes will take about three minutes to open and cannot be overridden, making it difficult to make off with large quantities of narcotics before police would arrive.
That, Moriarty said, will discourage local crime enterprises as well as fight against abuse of opioids — the pills most often taken in pharmacy thefts.
CVS heavily expanded its use time-delayed safes to 22 other states, as well as Washington D.C., after a pilot program in the Indianapolis area showed a 70% reduction in pharmacy robberies, Moriarty said, adding that the company has reported a 50% decrease in pharmacy robberies in locations that have implemented the new safes.
“Gangs target pharmacies to steal narcotics and other prescription drugs to sell them on the street and online, providing significant funding for their other illicit activities,” Moriarty said. “We believe this is a meaningful step and a meaningful contribution to our efforts to prevent prescription drug misuse and diversion here in Nevada and make every community a little bit safer.”
Nevada pharmacies are robbed on average three times a month, said David Wuest, Executive Secretary for the Nevada Board of Pharmacy, adding that time-delayed safes can prevent pharmaceutical robberies with little-to-no drawback.
Clark County Commissioner Michael Naft, whose wife is a pharmacist, lauded the move, adding that measures like this will make it safer for shoppers and store employees.
“Knowing that there are techniques and technologies that can be employed to make (their) job safer, make it safer for (their) customers, is so valuable,” Naft said.
Accidental overdoses surged nearly 55% from 2019 to 2020, from 510 to 788, according to the Nevada State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System. Last year, the state reported 566 opioid-related overdose deaths, up about 4.4% from 2020 and an increase from the 374 deaths reported in 2019, according to the Nevada State Opioid Response.
Ford’s office earlier this month announced it had received the first payments of over $284 million in settlement funds from opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson as well as distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson.
In all, the state has recovered about $329 million from opioid-related litigation to be divided up among counties and other localities, according to Ford’s office.
