3 HEROIN DEATHS REPORTED IN 2 MONTHS

Police Investigating Possible 'Crisis In The Making'

At least three people have died of heroin overdoses in Wilmington in
the past two months, leading police to investigate a possible heroin
"crisis."

The deaths and a recent non-fatal heroin overdose have Wilmington
police searching records to see how the death toll compares to other
years.

Though the count isn't done, Lucy Crockett, spokeswoman for the
agency, said the sense is that heroin has taken a heavy toll in late
2007 and early 2008.

"There is a general agreement that we are seeing a possible crisis in
the making," she said Thursday in a written statement. As a result,
Wilmington police also are consulting with local drug treatment
experts as well as the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office in the hope
of coming up with a way to warn users.

Crockett said police try to catch drug dealers, but a rise in
overdoses is a challenge that must be addressed by the community.
Also, she said, more heroin overdoses might have occurred without
being reported to police.

While officers investigate deaths, if rescuers revive an overdose
patient, police might not be notified, authorities say.

Capt. Bruce Hickman, a police officer in Wilmington for 27 years, said
heroin always has been prevalent in the community, but heroin use goes
in cycles. In the past year and half, heroin seems to have become more
common, he said, while crack cocaine use has fallen off.

Among the fatal overdoses police investigated from Dec. 6 to Jan. 25,
the victims are men ages 16, 24 and 48, according to police. Also in
January, a 19-year-old woman overdosed in the bathroom of the
McDonald's in the 2500 block of Carolina Beach Road. The woman
survived. In that case, the state took a young child into custody
because adults with the child were using heroin in the public rest
room, police have said.

Since early November, Wilmington police have investigated at least 10
allegations of Schedule I drug possession and at least 10 allegations
of Schedule I possession with intent to distribute, according to
Wilmington police reports. Heroin is a Schedule I controlled substance
along with LSD, peyote, mescaline, mushrooms, quaaludes and Ecstasy.
Cocaine is a Schedule II controlled substance.

Hickman suggested several possibilities for the rise in heroin deaths.
Heroin use ebbs and flows, he said, as a new generation of users comes
along who are too young to know the health risks the drug caused its
predecessors.

Also, he said, police have recently seen some heroin users combine the
drug with other substances, such as alcohol or Valium, making for more
unpredictable consequences.

"One time can be all it takes with heroin," Hickman
said.

Another possible factor, he said, is that in the world of illegal
drugs, users know little about what they're buying. Just as police
shut down one supplier, another steps in who may be selling heroin in
a more potent form. He also said that as police have gone after crack
dealers, heroin seems to have filled the void.

In addition to overdoses, Hickman said, heroin users face the
additional risks of hepatitis and HIV, which may be transmitted
through needles.