PROVINCE TAKES OVER MORPHINE PROBE

Ontario's chief coroner's office has taken over the investigation into a
mysterious cluster of 16 morphine-related sudden deaths in Sault Ste. Marie
during the last year-and-a-half. Deputy chief coroner Dr. Jim Cairns
confirmed his office is taking a second look at the data gathered since
last year by two regional coroners and the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service.

The unusual move was decided on in mid-April during a monthly meeting
between Ontario's regional, deputy and deputy chief coroners, Cairns said.

Creating a new data bank and looking at it with a "new set of eyes (from) a
slightly different perspective" may yield some information that has so far
eluded authorities, he said.

"They have exhausted everything. The regional coroner and the police have
done everything they could think of doing," Cairns said in a phone
interview Monday.

"It's not as a criticism of the police or the regional coroner. They have
gone over everything with me, and I can't think of anything else to do . .
. We've already had two looks, and mine may well be trying to dot the i's
and stroke the t's."

Although the common questions a coroner asks _ such as cause and time of
death _ have been answered, investigators are still stuck on explaining how
the 12 men and four women who died between October 1999 and late last month
obtained the drug.

Several avenues have been explored, such as whether doctors were
over-prescribing and whether any of the victims or their family members had
prescriptions for morphine.

"None of those, so far, have borne any fruit," Cairns said.

"The one common denominator in all the deaths is that morphine is on board
when it shouldn't have been on board."

What is known at this stage is that other drugs _ street drugs,
antidepressants, tranquilizers, etc. _ were found in virtually all of the
victims, but morphine was the main factor in "a significant number" of the
fatalities, he said. The victims are believed to have injected it.

The first sudden death was reported in October 1999, with a cluster of
seven more between April and September 2000; the next eight were within a
five-month period between December 2000 and April.

Several of the victims, aged between 30 and 50, were at least acquaintances.

The deaths took place in a variety of settings, including alleyways, homes
and a hospital emergency room.

There is no evidence to either confirm or deny that the morphine originated
with one source, Cairns added.

One complication has been Sault Ste. Marie's proximity to the U.S. border.
In a more isolated or enclosed community, "We could readily find out what
pharmacies are prescribing medications, what doctors are prescribing
medications, what hospital pharmacies are prescribing medications. We
cannot obviously do that as easily across the border," he said.

He expects to have finished the review within two weeks.