CUMBERLAND DRUG DEATHS DOUBLE

The dangerous dance with heroin finally may be hitting Cumberland County.

Coroner Michael Norris recorded 17 drug-related accidental deaths in
2006 -- a figure more than double the figure in any of the previous nine years.

Fourteen of the deaths were caused by methadone, fentanyl or heroin.
Methadone is a potent synthetic drug frequently used in drug
treatment programs as a substitute for morphine or heroin.
Investigators have tracked drug dealers mixing lethal cocktails of
fentanyl and heroin to as far away as Mexico.

Deaths from fentanyl-laced drugs have occurred in Illinois, Michigan,
Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland.
Doctors prescribe fentanyl, a narcotic, as a painkiller for cancer
patients and others in chronic pain. It's about 80 times more potent
as a painkiller than morphine.

The drug is also many times stronger than heroin. An overdose can
slow breathing to the point of death.

"It is just another aspect of an ongoing heroin problem that we've
had for more than a decade now," says Jack Carroll, director of the
Cumberland-Perry Drug and Alcohol Commission.

"There are some very dangerous substances out there."

For his part, Norris says the drug-related deaths do not follow any
pattern related to geographic area, circumstance or drug involved.

"We cannot say we have a trend or anything," he says. " I have not
talked to the hospitals to find out what is happening in that
regard." October deaths

Norris joined District Attorney Dave Freed at a press conference in
October after two people died in two days from fentanyl-laced heroin.
A 28-year-old Carlisle man died at home and was followed by a
29-year-old woman who died in Lower Allen Township.

Both purchased suspiciously packaged heroin from different sources.
On one, the word "DIESEL" had been stamped. The other packet bore
only the small insignia of a skull and crossbones.

Authorities in Dauphin County have been battling the fentanyl-laced
street drugs for the past year. Cumberland authorities say the heroin
in both of the October deaths was traced to Dauphin.

"I think what you're seeing is the effects of hardcore use," Freed
says. "The more they use, the more they need. They're looking for
that high they experienced the first time. So you're seeing more
riskier behavior."

In terms of criminal activity, heroin arrests continue to run "a
steady number three behind" marijuana and cocaine, he adds.

Carroll says the heroin problem is widespread.

"It would be interesting to see the data from all the neighboring
counties combined," he says.

Other News

Norris investigated three homicides in 2006 -- as many as 2004-05
combined. Authorities continue to investigate the April
shooting death of Charles Rae, 45, of Dickinson Township.

Philip Lego, 63, killed his wife, Nancy, 58, on June 28 and then
turned the gun on himself.

A North Middleton Township man is charged with homicide in the
shooting death of his ex-girlfriend. Shane A. Geedy, 37, allegedly
shot Toni Myers, 42, on July 15

Fire claimed three victims in 2006 -- "and again the absence of smoke
detectors was a factor," Norris writes.

In a bit of good news, there were no motorcycle deaths. Last year,
Norris recorded six deaths from motorcycle accidents. There were 21
deaths involving vehicles -- eight of which were alcohol-related.

The report notes 187 of the deaths investigated were from natural
causes, with 117 attributed to heart disease.

Twenty-two deaths in 2006 were ruled suicides -- the same number as a
year ago. Ten were committed with firearms, seven by hanging, two
each by drug overdoses and plastic bag suffocations and one by "blunt trauma."

Cremation continues to rise. Norris' office dealt with 484 cremations
in 1999; 581 in 2001; 695 in 2003; and 790 last year.

Coroners are required to review the circumstances of all deaths for
which cremation is requested. This generally involves a review of the
death certificate, medical records and sometimes discussion with physicians.