Pubdate: Sun, 18 Nov 2001 Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA) Copyright: 2001 San Francisco Examiner Contact: http://www.mapinc.org/media/389 Website: http://www.examiner.com/ Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n1931/a01.html Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) HEROIN: TALIBAN'S CHEMICAL WARFARE THE terrorist attack on the United States has entered its third and possibly most deadly phase. Taliban leaders have unleashed a store of opium from Afghanistan, and the State Department expects it to arrive here in the form of a new, purer form of heroin. The heroin isn't just a way to get money for terrorism. It is terrorism. We should strike back with everything we've got. On a national level that means interdiction and prosecution. On a local level it means prevention and treatment. The state and The City are about to embark on a wave of budget cutting. Drug treatment should not be one of the items that is sacrificed to balance the books. It should be enhanced as a form of civil defense. The new drug, called "Heroin No. 4," is 80 percent pure, so it can be snorted or smoked, not just injected. That could make the drug more popular with people who are afraid of needles. It could make it easier for junkies to get a hold of the stuff on the street. The cheaper the drug, health experts say, the more chance there is for overdosing. San Francisco already has a horrible heroin problem. The City ranks No. 3 in the nation per capita for heroin addiction. One recent report estimates that there are as many as 17,000 intravenous drug users here. Heroin accounts for one-third of all premature deaths in The City. Those statistics could get worse if the illegal drug market is flooded with the new heroin supply. MAKE no mistake: This is chemical warfare. Addiction to heroin can lead to injury or death. The abscess clinic at San Francisco General Hospital already sees hundreds of patients a year whose injection sites have gone untreated. The hospital's burden has already grown with the explosion in the availability of black tar heroin. It could get even worse if the new formulation becomes popular here. Of the two white powders, anthrax may be more poisonous, but heroin is more insidious. Addiction makes it difficult to stanch the flow to all-too-willing victims. Fortunately, The City treats heroin addiction as a medical problem first and a crime a distant second. But that is not enough. Faced with this terrorist attack, The City should focus more money and attention on the heroin problem, and reduce the waiting list for treatment, with at least a thousand names on it at any one time. The Sate Department believes that this new supply of potent opium could reach our shores by winter or early spring. We have some time to prepare, but let's mobilize our troops now. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk