Pubdate: Fri, 26 May 2006
Source: Centre Daily Times (PA)
Copyright: 2006 Nittany Printing and Publishing Co., Inc.
Contact:  http://www.centredaily.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/74
Author: Sarah Karush, The Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

DRUG COCKTAIL CAUSES OVERDOSES FROM PHILLY TO CHICAGO

DETROIT -- Larry, a 53-year-old heroin addict, has two cardinal 
rules: Never shoot up alone, and only shoot up one at a time. If one 
person overdoses, "you need someone there to bring you back," he said.

Larry, who asked that his last name not be used because of his 
illegal habit, recited his rules after hearing that a mixture of 
heroin and a powerful painkiller has been killing unsuspecting users 
who believe they are taking pure heroin.

Officials from Philadelphia to Chicago have reported deaths from the 
drug, called fentanyl and considered 80 times more powerful than 
morphine. In the Detroit area -- the apparent hub of the problem with 
more than 100 confirmed cases since last fall and about two dozen 
suspected ones in the last week -- officials from the national 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating, and 
community organizations are scrambling to get the word out to users.

The CDC says it has no national statistics on fentanyl deaths and has 
only been asked to investigate in Michigan. But individual reports 
from a scattering of states indicate the drug is widespread.

In Philadelphia, there have been 20 confirmed deaths from heroin 
mixed with fentanyl since April 17, and test results are pending for 
another eight suspected cases, the city health department said.

In New Jersey, where officials first raised the alarm about the drug 
in April, there have been about 10 confirmed fentanyl deaths and 
another 10 to 20 suspected cases since last month, according to the 
state's poison control center.

In Chicago, 30 people have died from fentanyl or fentanyl-laced 
heroin from September 2005 to March 2006, said Christopher Hoyt, a 
spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in that city. 
Another 23 suspected cases were reported in April and May.

"This is a huge, huge problem," said Stephen Marcus, medical director 
of the New Jersey Poison Control Center.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman