LIVINGSTON CORONER SAYS THIRD VICTIM HAD USED METHADONE

DENHAM SPRINGS -- A third young man who died in Livingston Parish this
weekend tested positive for methadone, the Livingston Parish coroner
confirmed Tuesday.

Investigators have not established a relationship between the third victim
and two teenagers who also died in Denham Springs Saturday, Sheriff Willie
Graves said.

A toxicological screening of the bodies of all three showed positive
results for methadone, said Dr. Ron Coe, the Livingston Parish coroner.

Coe warned young people not to assume any drugs or unknown substances
offered to them by friends are benign, and said they should realize that
drugs can vary greatly in strength.

For instance, liquid methadone, like some other drugs, comes in an
extremely potent form, he said. A single ounce of concentrated methadone
liquid is equal to 60, 5-milligram methadone pills, Coe said.

The beginning methadone dosage in fighting severe pain is one-half of a
5-milligram tablet, Coe said. Robert Aucoin, a clinical pharmacist in Baton
Rouge, confirmed Coe's numbers for the concentrated liquid, which is one of
three strengths in which liquid methadone is sent to pharmacists.

An overdose of methadone causes a person to quit breathing and not be in
condition to ask for help, he said.

One of the drug's pharmaceutical forms is a "flavored liquid," but
methadone tablets can be crushed and mixed with liquid on the street,
Carpenter said.

Authorities said they have not yet determined the strength or source of any
substances ingested by the people in the two separate cases.

It will be weeks before results get back showing the levels of any drugs in
the victims' systems, Coe said. The coroner warned people to call 911
immediately if a person becomes unconscious after taking a drug or drinking
heavily.

"A significant length of time passed" between the time the two 17-year-olds
were left in a truck by acquaintances early Saturday morning and when
authorities got a 911 call Saturday afternoon, he said.

Given immediate medical attention, the lives of people with drug or alcohol
overdoses often can be saved, the coroner said.

The latest man Coe confirmed to have tested positive for methadone this
weekend was Christopher P, Robinsion, 26, 11415 Brown Road, Denham Springs.

Robinson was found dead in his bed, and the case has been ruled an
accidental overdose, officials said. "It's easy to overdose on," Carpenter
said of methadone.

Authorities identified the two teenagers who died Saturday as Austin J.
Way, 30233 Able St., Denham Springs, and Timothy J. Fruge, 10 Main St., Angola.