Concord cop accused of swiping drugs from the elderly
A Concord police K-9 officer surrendered Friday and will resign after being charged with stealing prescription drugs from senior citizens.
Matthew Switzer, a 12-year department veteran, appeared in Contra Costa County Superior Court in Martinez on Friday afternoon but did not enter a plea to two counts of first-degree burglary and one count each of second-degree burglary, fraudulently obtaining prescription drugs and elder abuse.*
Switzer, 38, who is on paid administrative leave, is being held in lieu of $480,000 bail.
Switzer's attorney Harry Stern said his client had been prescribed Norco, a narcotic pain reliever, for an on-duty neck injury "that caused a great deal of pain. He was trying to keep working. They prescribed him drugs, they continued to prescribe him and he got hooked. And once you're hooked, that's a real hard one to beat. It's heroin by any other name."
http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Concord-cop-accused-of-swiping-drugs-from-the-5377212.php
= new reply since forum marked as read
Norco is a hydrocodone drug. As far as pain medicines go, Norco is pretty mild. I've been on lots of pain meds, including morphine, and I can tell you that Norco isn't even close as far as strength or addictive potential.
I took myself off morphine (which was pure hell) and had them give me Norco instead because I decided that I'd rather deal with the pain than get addicted to strong opiate drugs. If I miss doses of Norco, the urge to take more it is rather mild, especially compared to morphine. Withdrawal from Norco is nothing compared to withdrawal from strong opiates.
Switzer's lawyer is stretching the truth mightily in order to excuse his client's behavior. But that's what lawyers do.
