OFFICIALS USE HOPE TO STAGE WAR ON HEROIN

Residents of the 2700 block of North Hope Street in North Philadelphia
are used to getting plenty of attention - historically from drug
traffickers and buyers.

Yesterday, however, it was law enforcement authorities, led by state
Attorney General Mike Fisher, who converged here.

Fisher unveiled a statewide grand jury report on the booming trade of
heroin, a staple of life on North Hope until December 1999 when
authorities brought it to a halt.

"Obviously we hope to alert a lot of Pennsylvanians about this scourge
and deter them from buying and using and selling drugs," Fisher said.

Joining Fisher was Deborah Fowler, of Carrolltown, Cambria County,
whose 18-year-old son, Adam, died of a heroin overdose in 1998. Fowler
said she knew of at least one trip Adam took to Philadelphia to buy
"Sniper," a street-corner name for heroin in a section of North
Philadelphia.

"This is where the heroin came from that killed my son," Fowler
said."I refuse as a parent and community person to sit back and let
heroin take another life."

Indeed, Fowler's ordeal symbolized Philadelphia's growing reputation
as the source for cheap heroin for residents of far-flung counties in
the state.

Fisher cited the report as evidence that Philadelphia was the source
for the majority of the heroin distributed statewide.

That conclusion was reached after an 18-month investigation, prompted
by reports of heroin trafficking and heroin overdoses throughout
Pennsylvania.

Cheap prices and a steady supply brings buyers from throughout
Pennsylvania and neighboring states to North Philadelphia, according
to the report.

The grand jury found that most buyers paid $10 a packet for heroin in
North Philadelphia compared to $40 elsewhere.

In December 1999, Fisher said, agents for the state Bureau of
Narcotics Investigation brought down what was known as the "White
House" organization that operated on North Hope.

The investigation led to the arrests of 18 suspected heroin dealers
who operated a $1.5 million heroin ring that shipped nearly 6,000 bags
of heroin into Greene County, south of Pittsburgh.

Fisher said a typical street organization sold about 150 bundles of
heroin a day - about $19,500 in income.

The grand jury report recommended a mandatory minimum period of
incarceration for a second conviction with intent to deliver a
controlled substance, regardless of the weight involved.

It also encouraged more drug-education programs to warn people of the
dangers of heroin, and urged Philadelphia authorities to make a more
concerted effort to follow up on warrants for drug violations.