HEROIN DEATHS RAISE CONCERNS

ROCKFORD -- A total of six drug overdoses, four of which have been
fatal, in the past two months have law enforcement officials
concerned about what appears to be a growing drug epidemic in the area.

What drug, or combination of drug and other substances, caused the
deaths won't be determined until toxicology results are completed.
But evidence authorities gathered from the scenes suggests heroin was
the drug of choice.

"There are indications, but I can't say that that is proved at this
point," Winnebago County Coroner Sue Fiduccia said. Fiduccia said the
number of fatal overdoses is nearly double the usual average handled
by her office.

Meanwhile, Chicago media has reported on an apparently bad batch of
heroin mixed with the chemical fentanyl that may be responsible for
up to a dozen deaths in that city. Whether the deaths here and those
there are connected, remains to be seen.

"The law enforcement agencies have collected samples from the scenes
and those are being used for comparisons," Fiduccia said. "Is heroin
mixed with bad stuff? Yes. All the time. They cut it with rat poison,
fentanyl and other substances. Heroin is bad stuff by itself."