Pubdate: Wed, 26 Apr 2006
Source: Star-Banner, The (FL)
Copyright: 2006 The Star-Banner
Contact:  http://www.starbanner.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1533
Author: Geoff Mulvihill, Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

BAD BATCH OF DRUGS KILLS AT LEAST 9 HEROIN USERS

CAMDEN, N.J. - After Ellen Krips' cousin died of an overdose of 
extremely potent drugs last week, the heroin addict's first thought 
was not how she could avoid the bad junk.

It was more like: I have to get some of that stuff.

A bad batch of drugs for sale on the streets of Philadelphia and 
southern New Jersey has killed at least nine heroin users during the 
past two weeks. And while authorities are warning people to stay away 
from the stuff, they are afraid some junkies are drawing the wrong lesson.

Like Krips, 32, they are intrigued by the possibility of a powerful new high.

Investigators are trying to determine exactly what is in the stuff, 
which is being sold as heroin under such names as "Flatline" and 
"Capone." Since Friday, about 70 people have been hospitalized.

Tests done in one community show that what was sold as heroin was 
mostly fentanyl, a drug 80 times more powerful than morphine. It is 
used to treat chronic pain and as anesthesia for open-heart surgery. 
No heroin was in the batch.

Medical experts say fentanyl, which has been harming Chicago-area 
addicts for a few months and has shown up mixed with heroin in 
Cleveland and elsewhere this year, can cause breathing problems and 
make users feel as if they are suffocating.

William Gamble, 40, said he was sickened last week. Hours after a 
state trooper warned him that "Flatline" was dangerous, Gamble bought 
three, $10 doses of "Capone." He, his wife and another man shot up in 
an abandoned house. The men passed out quickly, but both survived and 
were not hospitalized. His wife was not affected.

Warnings from police, counselors and news outlets have had the 
opposite effect on some addicts.

"If I tell someone I OD'd, they're coming to find that bag," said 
Gamble, who goes through seven or eight bags of heroin a day.

Authorities arrested 11 heroin users in Camden last week in an effort 
to track the drugs back to the dealers and their suppliers. By 
Tuesday, those dealers had not been found.

Some public health officials estimate that 10,000 people in the 
Philadelphia area are addicted to heroin. With major airports and 
seaports nearby, Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York dealers are 
known to sell heroin in highly pure forms.

Johnny "J.B." Brown, a drug counselor who cruises the streets of this 
impoverished city in an RV, offering HIV tests and other services for 
drug users and prostitutes, has been trying to warn users.

"You being careful out there? You know, there's some bad dope," Brown 
said Monday as a steady stream of drug users approached for snacks, 
condoms and bleach kits to clean their needles.

All of them said they have heard about the killer drugs. But they 
said stuff so strong that it kills is impossible to resist. And even 
if they wanted to avoid the bad stuff, they might not be able to, 
since it is never clear which bag might contain fentanyl or some 
other deadly substance.

"It's like Russian roulette," said addict Michelle Galante, 28, of 
Swedesboro, "just like any drug."

Stephen Marcus, medical director of the New Jersey Poison Control 
Center, said he hopes more publicity about the dangerous drugs will 
help uncover similar problems elsewhere. But he also knows that every 
news report might serve as a commercial for drug dealers.

"Will this make the drug abusers go out particularly looking for the 
stronger stuff?" he asked. "If it does, it's a double-edged sword."
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