Pubdate: Sun, 02 Jul 2006
Source: Valley News Dispatch (PA)
Copyright: 2006 The Tribune-Review Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleynewsdispatch/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2285
Author: Jill King Greenwood
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/walters.htm (Walters, John)

FENTANYL-LACED HEROIN STILL CIRCULATING IN REGION

A potent mix of heroin and fentanyl - which drew headlines last month 
by killing nine people in Allegheny County - continues to circulate 
in the region, police say.

"This is seriously dangerous stuff," said Special Agent Steven 
Robertson of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration's 
headquarters in Washington. "Heroin is such an addictive drug that it 
doesn't seem to matter to some people that it could be mixed with 
fentanyl and kill them. They want that ultimate high."

That search for the ultimate high Monday led to the overdose of a 
50-year-old man in Highland Park, who was revived by paramedics. Lab 
tests on the heroin used in the overdose will determine if it 
contained fentanyl -- a painkiller that experts believe is 100 times 
more powerful than morphine.

More than 50 users have recovered from overdoses of the deadly 
combination since it entered the streets early last month.

The most recent fatal overdose occurred June 20, when Angela Tigner, 
33, of Carrick, died after using a bag of heroin and fentanyl stamped 
with the words "Burn Out," police said.

Health officials blame the combination for more than 200 fatal 
overdoses nationwide. In the Valley, one man from Verona and another 
from Aspinwall have died. A Frazer man apparently survived an overdose.

Most of the bags connected to the early overdoses locally were marked 
with "Get high or die trying" or "Dynasty." The mixture has turned up 
in other parts of the country stamped with "Drop Dead"; "Incredible 
Hulk"; "Tsunami"; and "Undertaker."

Robertson, of the DEA, said it's not uncommon for drug dealers to 
switch the name and stamp on bags of heroin.

"Drug traffickers are businessmen, and if customers are getting 
scared off by overdoses, they'll just change the name," Robertson 
said. "They could care less about the misery their product causes, as 
long as it's making them money."

Dr. Neil Capretto, medical director of Gateway Rehabilitation in 
Pittsburgh, said many people checking into the rehab center for 
heroin addiction mention using the fentanyl-laced combination.

"Many say that because of all the media hype behind the heroin and 
fentanyl, they were drawn to it," Capretto said.

Users from Butler, Westmoreland and Lawrence counties have told 
Capretto that they traveled to Pittsburgh recently to buy the heroin 
and fentanyl mix and then either used it themselves or resold it.

"All the overdoses we saw in that short amount of time really just 
amount to a spike in the tidal wave of heroin mixed with other drugs 
that has been there for years and will never go away," Capretto said.

Dr. Frederick Fochtman, director of the forensic-science laboratory 
division and chief toxicologist for the Allegheny County Medical 
Examiner's Office, said lab results on much of the heroin seized in 
the city and the county in the past month have revealed varying 
mixtures of drugs.

Some of the bags are a mix of mostly heroin with fentanyl or cocaine. 
Other bags contain more fentanyl than other drugs.

Fochtman said that indicates the stamp bags -- each of which contain 
0.05 grams of the drug -- are originating from different distribution sources.

Law-enforcement agencies across the nation have been trying to curb 
the spread of heroin and fentanyl. Agents with the FBI and DEA have 
raided suspected distributors in Philadelphia, Chicago and Detroit. 
Fatal overdoses have occurred in Detroit, St. Louis, Philadelphia, 
Camden, N.J., Wilmington, Del., and Minneapolis.

U.S. drug czar John Walters said federal agents, working in 
cooperation with the Mexican government, closed a lab last month in 
Mexico, which might have been the main source of fentanyl that was 
mixed into U.S. heroin. The DEA said it is testing fentanyl seized in 
Mexico to determine if it could be linked to the deaths.

"We're still trying to track the source of the heroin that's popped 
up all over the country," Robertson said. "We're doing tests on what 
we seized in Mexico, and we don't know yet if that lab was the main pipeline."

The heroin-fentanyl mix first hit the streets of Pittsburgh on June 
2, when bags of it began circulating in Hazelwood. Within two days, 
the city saw its first fatal overdose, and more quickly followed in 
the next two weeks. Police arrested lower-level dealers and seized 
more than 1,000 bags of the mixture.

The rash of local outbreaks isn't the first time that tainted heroin 
has killed here.

In 1988, at least 20 users died after shooting up heroin laced with 
3-methyl-fentanyl -- commonly known as China White. Thomas Schaefers, 
a Calgon Corp. chemist, was convicted in 1989 of 20 federal charges, 
including two counts connected to two fatal overdoses.

U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan last month said federal prosecutors 
will seek lengthy prison terms for drug dealers who sold the heroin 
mix that have led to fatal overdoses.

Last month, scientists, public-health officials and law-enforcement 
officers from across the country held a summit in Chicago to discuss 
ways to combat the problem.

"We feel like we're making progress, but there's no way to know how 
much of it is out there still," Robertson said. "It's a problem that 
never really will go away."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman