LENAWEE OFFICIALS SAY POTENT HEROIN CAUSING DEATHS AMONG USERS

ADRIAN - For nearly three decades, Detective David Seeburger has seen
the effects of drugs on this Lenawee County community.

But it's been only within the last five months that he has seen
deaths because of a heroin overdose.

Lenawee law enforcement officials are warning potential drug users
that a new strain of heroin may have found its way into the county.
To date, four known drug users have died because of it.

"I'm thinking this drug is more potent than it normally is. Usually
they dilute it to some extent but this appears to be more pure," said
Detective Seeburger, an officer at the Lenawee Sheriff's Department
for 27 years. "We' re thinking that these drug users are getting more
pure stuff and they don't know it."

Lenawee County experienced its first in a string of drug overdose
deaths in August. The 28-year-old victim was driving back from the
Detroit area with a friend when they stopped on the road to shoot the
liquid drug into their veins.

Police were called to the scene after hearing reports of a suspicious
car. They found one man inside dead, the other on the brink.

"Toxicology reports showed that there was heroin in his system, and
enough to kill him of course," Detective Seeburger said. He did not
release the victim's name.

A second heroin overdose was recorded in September when a man in his
mid-50s was found dead in his bathroom after injecting the drug. This
man, the detective said, was a known drug user who had injected
heroin for many years.

He didn't even make it out of his bathroom, Detective Seeburger said.

A third case occurred shortly after, when a 35-year-old man was found
dead in his home - his veins laced with heroin and crack cocaine.

The man's death occured just weeks after he moved to Lenawee County
and months after his wife died of a drug overdose in Oakland County's
Farmington.

"This stuff is deadly," Detective Seeburger said. "And once you use
it, it could be too late to back out of it."

Karen Stafford-May has seen how difficult it is to recover from
heroin addiction. A substance abuse therapist at Bixby Medical
Center's Sage Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Ms Stafford-May
said local medical facilities have not seen an increase in heroin
addicted clients.

But, she added, that could be because the popular detox drug,
methadone, is not available in the county.

"The treatment of choice is methadone and the closest places you can
go to get that is Ann Arbor or Toledo," she said. "It is very
dangerous but there are treatments available. The smartest thing to
do is seek medical help because the withdrawal is surprisingly
violent. And that medical treatment is always confidential."

Lenawee County law enforcement officials said they have not heard of
similar problems in neighboring Hillsdale and Monroe counties. The
Hillsdale County Sheriff's Department confirmed that no heroin
overdoses have been reported in at least the last decade.

County Lenawee Sheriff Larry Richardson said his county's statistics
are alarming, but not surprising. Saying that drugs have been a
continuous problem in the county, Sheriff Richardson said his
department will continue to target drug dealers. And residents, he
said, must educate themselves.

"We want to educate the public and let them know that we do have a
problem of heroin in Lenawee County," he said. "It's on an upswing
and it has to stop."

The recent deaths have prompted the department to order an
educational video on heroin to be possibly used in the schools or to
youth groups, Detective Seeburger said. He said he plans to review
the video before disseminating it to the community policing and
school liaison officers.