Pubdate: Wed, 19 Jul 2000 Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA) Copyright: 2000 Worcester Telegram & Gazette Contact: (508) 793-9313 Mail: P.O. Box 15012, Worcester, MA 01615-0012 Website: http://www.telegram.com/ Author: Associated Press DRUG CZAR, POLICE TO MAP PURE HEROIN FIGHT BOSTON-- New England faces the threat of an influx of heroin so pure that users can inhale, snort or eat it instead of injecting it with needles, White House drug czar Barry McCaffrey warned yesterday. McCaffrey will meet today with law enforcement leaders from the six New England states to discuss how to combat the problem. McCaffrey said the high-purity heroin comes to the area primarily from New York City, but the Canadian border also remains vulnerable to drug smugglers. "It's essentially unguarded," McCaffrey said. "The northern border is a frontier. ... Cooperation between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has been superb. But there's very little manpower up there. It's a question mark that has to be closely considered in the following years." Last year, McCaffrey established the New England High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area with $1 million in federal money. The money has allowed local law enforcement officials to link up with FBI agents, federal drug enforcement agents, and other agencies that could assist in the arrest of drug smugglers. The New England effort only covers 12 counties in the six states. That means that the program still hasn't arrived in some counties that have heroin problems, such as Middlesex County, which has a substantial heroin trade based in Lowell. McCaffrey said he would ask New England law enforcement officials which counties should be added to the program and he thought Middlesex would be among those suggested. The program's budget this year has increased to over $1.85 million. McCaffrey said more money would be needed to add new counties and he promised to seek it. McCaffrey said it was too early to tell how well the program was working. "I think the payoff will happen in the coming years," McCaffrey said. Col. Edmund Culhane, head of the Rhode Island State Police, said that in his state, more large drug seizures have been made since the HIDTA program began. He also said that working with other states would enable him to dismantle much larger drug operations. The theory behind the HIDTA program is that local police in drug-riddled areas need help to fight criminal organizations that can easily spill over jurisdictional boundaries. McCaffrey said that Connecticut's Bradley International Airport, as well as airports in Manchester, N.H.; Burlington, Vt.; and Warwick, R.I. were vulnerable to drug traffickers. John Gartland, special agent in charge at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in New England, agreed with McCaffrey. "(High-purity heroin) is everywhere," Gartland said. "We're seeing it in Bangor, Maine; we're seeing it in Cape Cod." But cracking down on high-purity heroin isn't going to solve all the problems, Gartland cautioned. Gartland said that reducing the amount of very pure heroin could simply lead dealers to dilute their mixtures -- and could lead addicts to return to injecting heroin. In another indication of the threat posed by heroin, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health said yesterday that, in 1992, 15 percent of people admitted into state-run rehabilitation programs listed heroin as their primary drug. By 1999, the number of people claiming heroin addiction had more than doubled to 32 percent, while the numbers claiming addiction to cocaine, marijuana and alcohol declined. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake