MARYLAND: HEROIN DEATHS REMAIN NEAR RECORD LEVELS

Maryland officials report that heroin-related deaths stayed near record
highs for the year 2000, despite a two-year-old program to fight the
drug. The state Medical Examiners office recorded 304 overdose deaths in
Baltimore alone, bringing last year's overdose fatality total for the state
to 474. According to police, Maryland's efforts to fight heroin abuse have
failed because use of the drug has shifted from the inner city to the
suburbs, and also because the heroin that is now available is much more
potent than what was around 10 years ago. Dr. Shiv Soni, supervisor of the
drug analysis unit of the Baltimore Police Department, says that in the
past two years, even the lowest grades of heroin have increased from about
4 percent to 14 percent purity, while high-quality heroin is now about 75
percent pure. Baltimore health commissioner Peter L. Bielenson notes that
the increased strength of the drug could raise mortality in a number of
ways, particularly as new users are drawn to stronger grades of heroin
because they can snort or smoke it, instead of using a needle.