You can normally get pills at a drug store using a prescription but if you're trying to get them illegally in Bedford County, sheriff Mike Brown says it won't be easy. The sheriff told us his investigators have been cracking down on prescription drug abuse.
"The word is out just like through the grapevine and there's a grapevine in the law enforcement community and there's one in the criminal community," says Sheriff Mike Brown, Bedford County Sheriff's Department.
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The sheriff says cases involving prescription drug abuse went up several years ago and it's why they started working with federal and state agencies to stop it. Most recently its helped take down more than 30 people in a drug ring in Bedford County.
Even though prescription pill abuse is down here in the county, we found out the total numbers of drug and narcotic violations have gone up. In 2011, there were 121 violations and last year that number went up 229.
The sheriff told us usually when they see fewer cases involving one crime something else follows such as heroin and meth. The sheriff's office is continuing their focus on prescription drug abuse knowing it may come back.