A local woman was arrested Thursday after she called in a fake prescription to the Medicine Shoppe.

Debra Walter McInvale, 55, was charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance after calling in for a prescription of Hydrocodine.

Lt. Byron Russell, commander of the Second Judicial Task Force, said that prescription drug abuse in Butler County is a steadily growing problem.

“Usually, all the pharmacies, if they have a fake prescription called in, they will call us to investigate it,” Russell said. “Prescription medicine is one of the worst problems we have.”

This is the second time in two months that someone has called in a fake prescription of Hydrocodine to the pharmacy.

“Most of the people are addicted or are selling the pills because you can make a lot of money on the streets selling the pills,” Russell said. “Each pill can go for $5 to $10. I think (McInvale) paid $40 for that prescription of 90 pills.

“You can get anywhere from $450 to $900 for that prescription on the streets. That’s a lot of money.”