A Pernicious Social Malaise

"Our plan is absolutely addressing all aspects of this crisis. I'm confident that we're putting our resources into all the areas that are so important in addressing this public health crisis."
"[Ontario's government is doing everything it can to combat an] avoidable tragedy."
Helena Jaczek, Ontario Health Minister

"This crisis has been on the radar in Western Canada for years, yet this [Liberal-led] government [of Ontario] chose not to take preventive measures to protect Ontarians from the dangers of opioids."
"Both the government and the previous health minister have clearly failed to properly address this crisis."
Progressive Conservative health critic Jeff Yurek

"Mr. [Waseem] Shaheen used his specialized knowledge as a pharmacist to hide his activities from other employees, the College of Pharmacists and the police, and when confronted, planned and carried out a fake robbery to cover his illicit activities."
"He is an educated, intelligent person who set out to benefit himself with no regard to the consequences to the community at large. As a pharmacist, his moral blameworthiness could not be higher."
Public Prosecution Service of Canada

"[Shaheen, a professional entrusted with securing access to dangerous drugs, chose to traffic fentanyl] that is at the forefront of the opioid crisis that is ravaging our cities."
"[The drug, meant to be prescribed to people in pain, can result in] crippling addiction or death [on the streets]."
"His only apparent motivation was greed."
Ontario Court Justice Robert Wadden

An Ottawa pharmacist who faked a robbery at his own drugstore to cover up the "mountains" of fentanyl patches he trafficked has been found guilty of his crimes. The police case against Waseem Shaheen began in October 2014 when he reported a knife-point robbery at his Rideau Street I.D.A. pharmacy. (Google Street View photo). / OTTwp

The government of Ontario has pledged over $222-million over a three-year period in an effort to tackle the opioid crisis being experienced in the province. Funding is meant to expand harm-reduction services and to enable the hiring of greater numbers of front-line staff. Funding has also been approved for seven supervised injection sites, five already in existence. That there is a crisis across Canada is not in question.

According to provincial statistics there were 7,658 hospital emergency visits for opioid-related overdoses last year, significantly higher than the 4,453 that occurred the previous year. There was a documented 1,053 deaths from opioids in 2017, in comparison with 2016, when there were 694 such deaths. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, the number of deaths due to overdose was expected to surpass the 4,000 for all reporting provinces for 2017, surpassing the 2,861 opioid-related fatalities reported for 2016.

There is no charge for acquiring naloxone kits from pharmacies whose purpose as an emergency treatment for such overdoses is known to have reversed the deadly effects of overdoses fairly effectively if and when administered in a timely fashion. A new version of the overdose-reversing drug is set to be released through pharmacies, available without cost to anyone requesting such a kit as a matter of ensuring that people are prepared to commit to preventing such tragedies in the circles in which they move.

The stiffest sentence ever handed down in Canada to a pharmacist for fentanyl crimes was made public when Ontario Court Justice Robert Wadden handed down a 14-year incarceration sentence for Waseem Shaheen, who in October of 2014 reported a robbery at knifepoint at his Rideau Street I.D.A pharmacy. He reported that a masked man had threatened him and coerced over $25,000 in fentanyl patches in the robbery, caught on surveillance video. The robbery, however, was a ruse revealed to police by the man addicted to drugs whom Shaheen had hired to execute the robbery.

Justice Wadden, in the wake of a fall trial that had found Shaheen guilty of trafficking fentanyl, of public mischief for reporting a fake crime, and insurance fraud, handed down the sentence committing Shaheen to serving five years each for the mischief and fraud convictions concurrent with his longer sentence for trafficking fentanyl. The judge cited the position of public trust that Shaheen had violated when arriving at an appropriate sentence.

Waseem Shaheen was a pharmacist who operated three pharmacies, he was in no desperate need of cash, to convince him to sell dangerous drugs on the street in violation of the law. He had trafficked over 5,000 patches of the highest strength of fentanyl over a two-year period, a scheme that profited him over $1-million; according to Justice Wadden, "profiting on the misery of others." Shaheen had been suspended by the Ontario College of Pharmacists from practising as a pharmacist since March of 2016.

"I'm hopeful this sentence is a signal of just how seriously these types of crimes will be dealt with in our community", commented Staff Sgt. Michael Haarbosch of the Ottawa police robbery unit, adding that investigators who had dedicated a significant amount of their professional time and resources to this case, feel pleased with the outcome.

Waseem Shaheen covers his face and rushes into the Ottawa Courthouse. Postmedia