For some, this account might be shocking: others would see how slow the legal system discovers something that was common knowledge. This is a truthful account of the early struggle between legal, pharmaceutical drugs and the ease by which they could be obtained. It shows how slowly the legal system realized that abuse, and the fact that popular pharmaceutical drugs were cleaner variations of street drugs the Police narcotic divisions were trying to keep off the streets.

It took roughly twenty years for the drug companies, the pharmacists and the Police to get on the same page regarding the widespread abuse of the tremendous array of prescription drugs easily available at your corner drug store. Some of the players involved resisted change.

The drug companies and the pharmacies were pulling in a lot of money. For instance, throughout this period, one of the most abused drugs, the most popular hydrocodone-laced cough syrup, Novahistex DH, had roughly 15 imitation brands. Pharmaceutical companies focused on products and profits, not prevention and practicality.

During the late 60’s, the cough syrup, or “juice” was so well known to the drug counter-culture that the Rolling Stones wrote a song secretly trumpeting its virtues. The song was “You can’t always get what you want.” The cherry-flavored syrup, a suitable substitute for heroin, is referred to in the title, and the following verse:
‘We went down, to the Chelsea Drug Store, to get my prescription filled,
We were standing in line with Mr. Jimmy, you know the man, looked pretty ill,
We decided we would have a soda, my favorite flavor, cherry-red’ The reference to the cherry flavored, hydrocodone loaded cough syrup is obvious, if you know what to listen for: Keith Richards was heavily involved with heroin while this song was written.

Another explanation for easy access was society itself; this was before the internet and instant information, and it was a time of innocence and indifference. This was an era of basic law and order; where everyone existed in harmony, habitually doing the same things and trusting that if people looked okay, they were okay. Terrorism and 9/11 were far in the future.

During the 60’s people began to openly flaunt established society. Rebellion, rebirth and moral revolution fueled a new generation, where anyone under thirty couldn’t be trusted. Society was known as the establishment, and some of the teenagers thought that it would crumble from its own brazen blindness, and bumptious bureaucracy. Timothy Leary preached his famous "tune in and tune out" philosophy

Rebels abounded, existing on the fringe of society; unseen, mostly ignored, disliked or, like the bike gangs, feared. Change was in the air; starting in the late 50’s, beatniks evolved into the 60’s peace loving flower children, or hippies. They preached revolution from the straight-laced status quo, stretched the rules, then quietly or openly experimented with drugs, something that most people knew little about.

Then the came 70’s, and drug use exploded. Cocaine marched from Bolivia into the Disco’s, upscale parties and almost everyone gave it a whirl. Recently, we had an ex-president that admitted to smoking some pot. Considered the most socially acceptable of all the drugs, the majority of today’s adults admit trying it: the people that deny it are either liars or were always complete geeks and were never invited to the “cool” parties.

Thirty years later, the hippies that wanted to change the world grew up, got jobs, mortgages and children. Now everyone understands drugs. Yet, there was a time when drugs were thought to be evil tools of the devil, and those tools consisted of Pot, Speed, Cocaine and Heroin. The fact that variations of these drugs were available from the corner pharmacy was unknown, overlooked or thought to be impossible. For most, the corner drug store was a place to get a soda and some hairspray.

During the 70’s and early 80’s, Toronto was the scene of a secret, underground war between possession and use of legal drugs. Because Pharmacists legally distribute the narcotic drugs in question across Canada, many gray areas and loopholes that were pushed to the limits by Toronto’s druggie population. For example, a prescription for morphine from a Doctor is legal; hence, a huge potential for bending the Narcotic Control Act exists. The user just needed to find a way around it.

Strict interpretation of the law started a secret war between Toronto’s savvy addict population in a constant war of deception waged against Doctors, Pharmacists; sadly, because the narcotics were illegal and a substitute for heroin, the Police. Addicts learned to con Doctors, write their own prescriptions and learned countless tricks to obtain what they wanted. In this case, Toronto’s sheer size was its own worst enemy. There were thousands of drug stores in the city, and 5 times as many Doctors.

The Police became aware of the situation, especially when a strung out addict dispensed with tacit deception, resorting to break and enters, or, for the more daring and stupid, armed robbery. Towards the end, some thought it was Bonnie and Clyde time again; boldly walking up to the pharmacists, pulling a gun, and then helping themselves to what they wanted before fleeing to a waiting car.

Around the mid 80’s, after the curtain was raised on what a drug store could stock, it was the quickest way to get what you wanted. And the quickest way to earn a lot of jail time. It took the Police years to uncover the more clever methods to scam drugs, but that can be put down as sheer indifference.
During the 60’s and 70’s, the ease addicts had was mostly due to ignorance and indifference to legally prescribed drugs: remember, pharmacies sell drugs; the more they sell, the more money they make. As long as you played the game, looked like a normal, sick person, upset about the price of getting better, you were like thousands of other customers. After all, everyone uses a pharmacy; the difference was addicts really used the pharmacies to supply their drug habit.

The Government eventually noticed the popularity of certain narcotics, like the vast array of narcotic cough syrups containing hydrocodone, and issued all pharmacists a warning to be careful when dispensing them. A lot of pharmacists ignored who bought them and why. For them, the more they sold, the more money they made: therefore, quite a few knowingly looked the other way, even when they knew the prescription was a complete fake.

When the Police became involved, it was usually too late; no excuses, no mitigating circumstances and no alibis could gloss over the fact that you were a drug addict trying to maintain your habit through whatever means necessary. Eventually, the Police got the Politicians involved, and new laws were enacted and enforced; but before then, part of the scoring scheme was legal and above board.

Some of the drug counselors at Toronto’s Addiction Research Foundation called legal to illegal drug use “the three tiered try”. Better know as ARF, the Addiction Research Foundation has several street labels: R & ARF (a court ordered rehab stint), SCARF (a homeless term, referring to free shelter and excellent food), and BARF: (from the methadone maintenance program: while on an I.V. drip, narcanon, an anti-narcotic drug used in O.D.’s, is injected at random. If addicted, you react by vomiting.)


For some, this account might sound unbelievable; others will recognize how the slow moving legal system takes time to discover something that was common knowledge. This is a truthful account of the early struggle between legal, pharmaceutical drugs and the ease by which they could be obtained. It shows how slowly the legal system realized that popular pharmaceutical drugs were cleaner variations of street drugs the Police narcotic divisions were trying to keep off the streets. Legal or not, abuse is abuse.

It took roughly twenty years for the drug companies, the pharmacists and the Police to arrive on the same page regarding the potential abuse of the tremendous array of redundant prescription drugs. Some of the institutions involved resisted change. For instance, one of the most abused drugs, the hydrocodone-laced cough syrup Novahistex DH, had roughly 15 rival brands. The cough syrups all had hydrocodone, but, due to market demand, every manufacturer wanted a piece of the action, and produced their own brand. Pharmaceutical companies focus on products and profits: not prevention and practicality.

During the late 60’s, cough syrup, or “juice” was so well known to the drug counter-culture that the Rolling Stones wrote a song secretly praising the product. That song was 'You can’t always get what you want.' Cough syrup, usually cherry-flavored, was a suitable substitute for heroin. It is referred to in the title, and specifically in the following verse:
‘We went down, to the Chelsea Drug Store, to get my prescription filled,
We were standing in line with Mr. Jimmy, you know the man, looked pretty ill,
We decided that we would have a soda, my favorite flavor, cherry-red’
For those "in the know", the reference to cherry flavored, hydrocodone-loaded cough syrup is obvious. Keith Richards was heavily involved with heroin while this song was written.

Another explanation for easy access was society itself; this was before the internet and instant information, a time of innocence and indifference. This was an era of basic law and order. Society was divided into two camps: the neatiks and the beatniks. Everyone existed in harmony, habitually doing similar things and trusting that if people looked okay, they were okay. Terrorism and 9/11 were far in the future.

During the 60’s, people began to openly flaunt established society. Rebellion, rebirth and moral revolution fueled a new generation, where anyone under thirty couldn’t be trusted. Society was known as the "establishment", and some teenagers thought it would crumble under its own brazen blindness and bumptious bureaucracy. Timothy Leary championed his famous "tune in, drop out" philosophy.

Rebels abounded, existing on the fringe of society; generally unseen, mostly ignored, thoroughly disliked or, like heavy-duty bike gangs, properly feared. Change was in the air; starting in the late 50’s, beatniks became hippies, the peace loving flower children of the 60’s. They protested and promoted revolution: a change from the straight-laced status quo. Stretching the rules, they quietly or openly experimented with drugs, something that most people knew little about. Then the came 70’s, and drug use exploded.

Cocaine marched from Bolivia into every Disco, Bar, and upscale party on the block. Everyone gave it a whirl. Recently, an ex-president admitted to smoking pot: (of course, he claimed he didn't inhale). Considered the most socially acceptable drug, the majority of today’s adults admit to trying it: anyone that denies it is either lying or were always complete geeks that were never invited to the “cool” parties.

Thirty years later, the hippies that wanted to change the world grew up, got jobs, mortgages and children. Now everyone understands drugs. Yet, there was a time when drugs were thought to be evil tools of the devil, and those tools consisted of Pot, Speed, Cocaine and Heroin.

The fact that variations of these drugs were available from the corner pharmacy was unknown, overlooked or tacitly overlooked. Everyone thought these drugs were well controlled by Doctors and Pharmacists. Except for some outlandish stories that made the news, people were largely unaware of the secret lives and successes of the underground "Drugstore Cowboys." The smash and grab crowd. The following stories are true adventures by real Drugstore Cowboys.

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