Burglar should’ve checked that expiration date closer

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Burglar should’ve checked that expiration date closer

By K.C. Mehaffey
World staff writer

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

CASHMERE — A bottle of morphine tablets dating back to World War I was stolen from a display at the Cashmere Museum’s pioneer village Friday night.

But the person who stole the pills waited far too long to get high off them. “The half-life is such that, at 100 years, there would not be any drug efficacy at all,” according to Dr. Peter Rutherford, CEO of Wenatchee Valley Medical Center after consulting with his pharmacist. The pills do not appear to break down into anything toxic, either, he said.

To get the pills, the burglar broke through a fence, kicked in a cabin door and broke open an old glass case where the pills were on display in a period doctor’s office, said Chelan County Sheriff’s Chief of Administration John Wisemore.

The doctor’s office is part of the museum’s display of an old-fashioned town at the museum, 600 Cotlets Way, he said.

“I’ve got volunteers here today trying to clean up the mess,” museum Manager Fred Harvey said on Monday.

He said the display will be closed until it can be cleaned up and repaired. He estimated damages at $3,000.

“I think the worst thing is, the case itself was an original case, over 100 years old, and that’s actually what was destroyed. I’m almost speechless about it,” Harvey said.

He said other items from the display case were taken out and thrown across the lawn. “It’s just a real mess,” he said.

Harvey said an alarm went off at the museum’s main building on Friday night, but he and other officials found no problems when they responded.

He said the 21 buildings that form the museum’s pioneer town are not hooked up to the museum’s alarm system.

Harvey said it’s not the first time one of the cabins at the museum has been burglarized. “We’ve had the saloon broken into a couple of times,” he said. Unlike the doctor’s office, which contained real drugs, the saloon did not have any alcohol in it, he said.

Harvey said he’s not sure what the burglar could do with the drugs. “That stuff’s at least 100 years old,” he said. “I don’t really get it, to tell you the truth.”

K.C. Mehaffey: 997-2512

mehaffey@wenatcheeworld.com

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Chuck 2 years, 1 month ago

And that's why they call it dope. LOL

francis 2 years, 1 month ago

They should just give dope to those people and eliminate crime and the drag on taxes!Of course they need there own Island together where they can grow there own poppies,There are two on the coast of Southern Ca that are owned by the US and no one lives on them.. and have to grow there own food also or starve..:)~! .LOL End of problem.They would even like it,no police,taxes or job.Of course with an option for rehab to enter the real world again.It would save are country 10s of billions a year in police,prisons, courts, public defenders, ect.

carol 2 years, 1 month ago

DITTO

Tim 2 years, 1 month ago

Hopefully, after a hundred years it turns into a laxative, a powerful one!

Chuck 2 years, 1 month ago

In the UK, heroin addicts can be put on maintanence. Given small doses of the drug and clean needles it's barely enough of the drug to get them through the day, but just enough to leave them room to think about what they want to do with their lives. Without the threat of AIDS hanging over their shoulders, new possibilities open up, and the system seems to work so far. Also, such recepients do not have to steal to support their illicit habit while on that program.

It's also worth noting that pharmaceutical grade heroin in these cases can be prescribed by General Practicioners.

rosscrollard 2 years, 1 month ago

Silly KC. Do you ask the manager of our PUD about old wiring in a home? There are knowledgeable professionals on pharmaceuticals that you could have asked. They are called pharmacists!

mehaffey 2 years, 1 month ago

Hi Ross,

I did try to reach a pharmacist. I called the American Pharmacists Association, in fact, but didn't receive a response until after my deadline for this story.

I did receive an immediate response from Dr. Rutherford, however, who is a longtime doctor of internal medicine, and who consulted with his pharmacist before responding.

By the way, when Heather Free a pharmacist and representative for the American Pharmacists Association, called back after the paper was already printed, she confirmed what Dr. Rutherford said.

K.C. Mehaffey, World reporter