Pubdate: Sun, 30 Jul 2006
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)
Copyright: 2006 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc
Contact:  http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/340
Author: Maryclaire Dale, Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

TRYING TO COMBAT SCOURGE OF HEROIN

After more than 400 overdose deaths nationwide from heroin laced with 
the painkiller fentanyl, some needle-exchange programs are starting 
to give addicts prescriptions for a drug to keep on hand to 
counteract an overdose.

The antidote - naloxone, sold under the brand name Narcan - can save 
the life of someone who might not call 911 for fear of prosecution, 
some treatment providers say.

But others say naloxone is best administered by trained paramedics 
and that distributing it by prescription might appear to condone drug use.

"We don't want to send the message out that there is a safe way to 
use heroin," said Jennifer DeVallance, a spokeswoman for the White 
House Office of National Drug Control Policy, which sponsored a 
symposium Friday on the fentanyl problem. The seminar was held at the 
University of Pennsylvania.

Fentanyl - an opiate used legally in anesthesia and for the relief of 
some cancer patients - is cheaper than heroin and 40 to 100 times 
more potent than morphine.

That makes it an appealing additive for heroin distributors.

At least 150 fentanyl deaths have been recorded in the Philadelphia 
region, 130 in the Chicago area, and 130 in the Detroit area.

John P. Walters, director of the White House drug policy office, said 
investigators hope to learn whether a clandestine laboratory raided 
in Mexico in May was the source of much of the illegal fentanyl 
reaching the United States.

"We think and we hope that the production site taken down in Mexico 
was the site," Walters said.

Fentanyl can lead to respiratory failure so quickly that one addict 
in Philadelphia apparently died even before he finished shooting up. 
A syringe with some heroin still in it was in his arm when paramedics 
found his body, according to Capt. Richard Bossert of Philadelphia's 
Emergency Medical Services Administration.

The case underscores the difficulty the medical community has in 
responding to the fentanyl crisis. Bossert said his unit has answered 
dozens of calls, but has saved only two people.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman