Pubdate: Thu, 31 Aug 2006
Source: Mt. Olive Chronicle (NJ)
Copyright: 2006 Recorder Community Newspapers
Contact: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd=1918&Nav-Sec=65719
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4246
Author: Phil Garber, Managing Editor
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/walters.htm (Walters, John)

LACED HEROIN RAISES DEADLY CONCERNS

Overdoses Are Investigated

MOUNT OLIVE TWP. - When authorities went to investigate two reported 
drug overdoses in Budd Lake last month they found glassine bags of 
heroin inscribed with the letters "Dunkin Donuts."

Detective John Walker, who heads the police narcotic unit, knew 
immediately what that meant and it had nothing to do with doughnuts.

"Dunkin Donuts" is the stamp that some heroin dealers have been known 
to put on bags of drugs laced with a powerful, prescription, 
painkiller known as fentanyl. And while the additive gives users a 
strong, kick, it can also be deadly.

In the case of the Budd Lake overdoses, both people were hospitalized 
and later recovered.

"That normally doesn't happen," said Walker.

The drugs seized in the Budd Lake overdose have been sent for testing 
to the N.J. State Police Laboratory.

Walker said dealers are lacing heroin to make it more attractive and 
to be more competitive with other drug dealers. Fentanyl-laced heroin 
is 80 to 100 times more potent than the non-laced drug.

"It's a marketing thing," Walker said. "But fentanyl is very dangerous to use."

Federal authorities said an increasing number of fatal overdoses have 
been reported from Chicago to the East Coast and most recently in the 
tri-state region of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. In New 
Jersey, most of the overdoses have been reported in Camden.

Authorities reported there have been seven fentanyl-laced heroin 
overdose deaths in Camden and overall, 75 reported in southern New 
Jersey, all since April.

White House Concerns

In response to growing concerns over the illegal use of fentanyl, the 
White House Office of National Drug Control Policy convened a seminar 
on July 28 at the University of Pennsylvania.

"They've discovered a new way to market their product, much like a 
soft drink manufacturer might," John Walters, director of the 
national office, told a group of law enforcement and other 
authorities. "Add a twist to boost sales. The problem with the added 
ingredient that brings us here today is that it makes you stop breathing."

Walters said the latest estimates were that there have been more than 
170 deaths and 300 non-fatal overdoses in New Jersey, Pennsylvania 
and Delaware in the four months from April through July.

He said the spike in fentanyl-related deaths mirrored the increase in 
overall heroin abuse in urban and sub urban communities.

The added potency of fentanlyl-laced heroin has triggered an 
estimated two to three times as many overdoses as has been seen in 
past years, Walters said.

According to Walters, emergency room workers at some hospitals in New 
Jersey reported treating five to six fentanyl-laced heroin overdoses per shift

"Simply, fentanyl turns a syringe into a loaded gun," Walters said.

He said most of the fentanyl is currently being made in clandestine 
labs but that it is expected there will be an increase in the abuse 
of prescription fentanyl as was the case with the abuse of oxycontin 
several years ago.

According to a June 16 report from the National Institute on Drug 
Abuse, Fentanyl was introduced in 1968 by a Belgian pharmaceutical 
company as a synthetic narcotic to be used as an analgesic in 
surgical procedures because of its minimal effects on the heart. 
Fentanyl is particularly dangerous because it is so much more potent 
than heroin and can rapidly stop respiration.

"This is not a problem during surgical procedures because machines 
are used to help patients breathe. On the street, however, users have 
been found dead with the needle used to inject the drug still in his 
or her arm," the report said.

In its prescription form, fentanyl is known as Actiq, Duragesic, and 
Sublimaze. Street names for the drug include Apache, China girl, 
China white, dance fever, friend, goodfella, jackpot, murder 8, TNT, 
as well as Tango and Cash, the report said.

When prescribed by a physician, fentanyl is often administered via 
injection, transdermal patch, or in lozenge form, the report said.

Effects of mixing fentanyl with street-sold heroin or cocaine 
include: euphoria, drowsiness/respiratory depression and arrest, 
nausea, confusion, constipation, sedation, unconsciousness, coma, 
tolerance, and addiction.

Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug 
Addition, said in the report that fentanyl's superior potency makes 
it a good medication for pain and a good target for abuse.

"And while it may not be as familiar as other prescription opiates or 
street drugs like heroin, it is causing a wave of overdoses and 
deaths, not from its diversion for non-medical purposes, but likely a 
result of illicit drug manufacturing," Volkow said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman