Pasco County Deputies rounding up suspects involved in prescription drug abuse

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - Pasco County Deputies arrested 44 suspects they say are involved in using and dealing prescription drugs, with 45 more still at large. They say most of those picked up in Operation Summertime Blues, are involved in crimes related to prescription drugs.

"It's doctor shopping and fraudulent prescriptions. We are seeing robberies, burglaries, home invasions. All of these things that are interconnected," said Pasco County Sheriff, Bob White.

Tom Shaugnessy will likely treat some of those arrested. He works at Pathfinder Counseling in New Port Richey.

"One of the characteristics of addiction is that it defies consequences. So you can put these people in jail five times, ten times, the addiction is left untouched."

Shaugnessey has been treating addiction for 30 years. He says switch out the type of drug,  and it's something we've seen before.

"If you go up on the jail sites now, and you read whatever kinds of crimes are happening, the property crimes. You can almost close your eyes and it's looks like the heroin addicts of the 1970's. They just look a little cleaner because they don't have tracks on their arms as much. And it looks like it's prescribed. But it's almost the same thing all over again."

The Sheriff says Holiday is the hot spot in West Pasco County when it comes to the prescription drug trade. He says to deal with these cases, his department needs more deputies on the street.

"The problem doesn't go away, and it doesn't shift. In fact, if we are less effective in capturing these folks. They only grow in numbers," says White.

It's not just the users affected by these crimes. The Sheriff says 60 percent of their Children Protection Services cases, are with kids being removed from a home involved in prescription drug abuse. As for the 45 others still at large, Sheriff White says it's only a matter time before they end up in jail as well.