Pubdate: Sun, 08 Oct 2006
Source: Pottstown Mercury (PA)
Copyright: 2006 PowerOne Media, Inc
Contact: 24 North Hanover Street, Pottstown, PA 19464
Website: http://www.pottstownmercury.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2287
Note: each article has a link to 'Voice Your Opinion On This'
Author: Sarah Fleener

LETHAL AGENT BLAMED FOR RISING DRUG DEATHS

Drug users in the area are experiencing firsthand that a fentanyl 
induced high is not far from a long goodbye.

Fentanyl, a pain killing drug normally administered by an 
anesthesiologist, is making headway as a party drug.

Since April of this year, Montgomery and Berks counties have reported 
more than 30 fentanyl-related deaths. In Philadelphia, 70 deaths and 
up to 220 overdoses have occurred, and in the tri-state area, there 
have been 200 deaths and 500 overdoses, according to a 2006 
Pennsylvania State Police report.

"Before March, we only occasionally had a fentanyl-related death," 
said Jeanne Ottinger, Montgomery County coroner. In Montgomery 
County, Ottinger said she's seen fentanyl deaths in people as young 
as 20 years old all the way up to chronic users.

"Many of the deaths are individuals who are returning to drug use 
without realizing the potency of fentanyl -- and it's killing them," 
Detective Steven Ziegler of the West Pottsgrove police said.

Fentanyl has 40 to 100 times the power of morphine and kills its 
abusers by stopping their breathing, Ottinger said,

"Oftentimes, the drug user will be found on all fours, or in a 
position where it appears they're trying to catch their breath," said 
Paul Marchese, a Limerick police detective.

One such incident happened in Stowe at the end of August. A 
33-year-old man was found with a syringe still in his arm in the 
bathroom of his Howard Street home. It was determined that he had 
overdosed on a fentanyl injection. Like many in the same situation, 
police believe he was also a heroine user at one time.

"We believe he thought he was injecting heroine," Ziegler said.

Fentanyl is most often cut into an opiate, like heroine, not only to 
pack a punch but to stretch the dealer's supply. Other cutting agents 
include rat poisoning or baby, talcum and protein powder.

Fentanyl is obtained through prescription fraud, stolen by rogue 
medical workers or cooked up in clandestine labs before it is sold on 
the streets. It comes in liquid form and can also be administered 
using a topical patch.

The amount of fentanyl cut into the opiate is unregulated. The drugs 
are passed and tampered with many times before they actually go into 
the user's body, said Marchese.

The original dealer may take the straight heroine, cut it with what 
he believes is the right balance for the high, and then sells it. The 
next person, and even the next, might do the same thing. By the time 
the drug enters the blood, the good high is more often than not a death wish.

This scenario played out twice in Limerick this summer. On July 3, a 
56-year-old man died of a fentanyl overdose at the Ridgeview Trailer 
Park. On July 31, a 59-year-old woman overdosed, but did not die, on 
the 100 block of Abbey Drive.

Marchese said police believe the two incidents are linked by the same 
batch of drugs.

Both the Limerick and West Pottsgrove police departments are pursuing 
the sellers of these drugs to charge them with third-degree murder.

Under the Pennsylvania Crimes Code, a person has committed 
third-degree murder if they sell drugs that result in death. This 
"delivery resulting in death" law was recently used against David 
Francis Downey, who in August 2005 gave Ashley Burg, a teen escort, 
enough cocaine to poison her.

As fentanyl-related deaths surge, prosecutors are recommitting to 
this law, which can put drug dealers in prison for up to five years, 
said Robert Sander, Montgomery County assistant district attorney and 
captain of the Narcotic Enforcement Team.

"Drug dealers are putting a plague on our society," Sander said. "If 
they're doing it for a quick buck, then they need to be held 
responsible for their actions."

It's safe to assume a dealer wouldn't want to be traced to the drugs 
they sell, but bags of heroine, and fentanyl-laced heroine, are 
branded with catchy names like "Darth Vader" or "The Godfather" and 
symbols such as the Nike swoop or a gun.

"The dealer takes pride in the product they're selling," Marchese said.

This branding, combined with word-of-mouth, is the drug trade's sole 
marketing strategy.

"Some guy might say, 'I got the best high. You need to ask for this 
label at this corner,'" Marchese said.

Prosecutors are trying to use these labels to catch the dealer whose 
blend is killing its users, but this is a difficult and intricate 
process, Sander said, because most fentanyl users take this 
information with them to the grave, literally.

Currently Montgomery County's Homicide Unit is pursuing a number of 
these cases, Sander said, and with any luck, the right blend of skill 
and circumstance will lead to a surge in dealer prosecution, instead 
of fentanyl deaths.
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