Pubdate: Thu, 28 Sep 2006
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Copyright: 2006 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Contact: http://www.jsonline.com/news/editorials/submit.asp
Website: http://www.jsonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/265
Author: John Diedrich,  MAP archives articles exactly as published, except that our 
editors may redact the names and addresses of accused persons who 
have not been convicted of a crime, if those named are not otherwise 
public figures or officials

DEADLY DRUG EMERGES IN CITY

Alone Or With Heroin, Fentanyl Has Killed Hundreds

A powerful drug that when mixed with heroin has been  traced to 
hundreds of deaths nationwide has surfaced in  Milwaukee, authorities 
said Thursday.Advertisement

Last week, Milwaukee vice detectives seized 6.5 grams  of pure 
fentanyl - a legally produced synthetic  painkiller that is 80 times 
stronger than morphine - in  a bust on the city's north side, said 
Lt. Robert  Stelter. They thought they were getting heroin and were 
surprised to learn it was fentanyl, presumably sold to  be added to 
heroin, he said.

Fentanyl has surfaced in Chicago, Detroit and other  cities with 
deadly results. The drug has been traced to  the deaths of 200 people 
in the United States and at  least three in Wisconsin. So far, the 
drug has not been  directly tied to any deaths in Milwaukee, but on 
Thursday an official in the Racine County medical  examiner's office 
said at least two deaths there have  been linked to fentanyl in 2006.

Ryan Willhard, a 21-year-old former Cedarburg resident,  died of an 
overdose June 18 in an apartment in Grand  Chute, in Outagamie 
County. His father, John Willhard,  said authorities told him that 
his son died of a  fentanyl overdose. Willhard said his son had 
been  heroin free for eight months but began using again. He  said 
his son probably tried to buy heroin again and was  instead sold fentanyl.

Fentanyl is so powerful it can cause an overdose  through absorption 
through the skin, prompting a  warning to law enforcement officers to 
be careful when  handling the drug, Stelter said.

This was Milwaukee's first seizure of the drug and the  largest in 
the state, said David Spakowicz, state  special agent in charge of a 
heroin task force here. He  estimated the seizure was worth $25,000.

[Name redacted], 29, who gave police a Chicago address but  later 
listed a Milwaukee address, has been charged in  the north side bust 
with manufacture and delivery of a  designer drug, according to 
online court records. He  was released after posting $750 bail on 
Tuesday, according to jail officials.

Stelter said the amount of fentanyl seized was enough  to cut into 
thousands of packets of heroin, which can  be as small as a tenth of an ounce.

"We are really worried now we are seeing this," Stelter  said. "The 
problem is it is so potent, and they are not  pharmacists. If they 
mix it wrong, you die."

Tom Kertscher of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed  to this report.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine