Pubdate: Sat, 18 Apr 1998
Source: Herald Sun
Contact:  http://www.sjmercury.com/
Author: Tanya Giles

KILLER COCKTAIL FEAR FOR ADDICTS

A HORROR drug cocktail almost killed more than 30 drug addicts in one of
the worst heroin overdose outbreaks in Melbourne on Thursday night.

Ambulance officers yesterday blamed the epidemic on a new super-potent
batch of heroin cut with a potentially lethal additive.

Doctors used the anti-heroin drug Narcan to revive 31 collapsed heroin
users during the night, compared with the usual average of about five a day.

The lethal cocktail caused drug addicts to collapse in laneways,
nightclubs, hotel stairways and railway stations, unaware they could lose
their lives.

Some of the addicts reported a burning sensation in their arm and a
metallic taste in their mouth, symptoms of the new cocktail.

One drug addict was so concerned about his condition, he stumbled to the
police booth at Flinders St station to ask for help.

Often overdose victims abuse ambulance crews when they are revived and want
no police involvement.

Ambulance spokesman John Fasham said while ambulance officers did not
condone the use of heroin, he urged users to be aware of what they were
injecting, particularly when using the latest heroin batch.

"You just don't know what is in the heroin," he warned.

Ambulance duty team manager Trevor Fewster said the killer drug was
"knocking people over" on Melbourne's streets.

He warned heroin users they risked their lives if they did not give up the
habit.

"All I can say is, don't do it, just don't do it," he said. "You are dicing
with death when you inject heroin. Death lasts for a long time."

Mr Fewster said the ambulance officers were called out all around Melbourne
including Yarraville, Cranbourne, Broadmeadows and the city.

In previous years, overdoses have been mainly confined to the inner city,
but are now increasingly extending to the outer suburbs.

And with each overdose response costing about $700, the eight-hour heroin
emergency bill came to more than $20,000.

The fight against heroin stepped up in February when the State Government
announced all ambulances would carry the life-saving anti-narcotic Narcan.