HEROIN USE AMONG YOUTH JUMPS SHARPLY, WITH TRAGIC RESULTS

BOSTON (AP) - Fatal opiate overdoses among teens and young adults tripled
in Massachusetts over a four-year period, and hospitalizations have doubled
as cheaper heroin floods cities and suburbs, according to the state
Department of Public Health.

In 2001, 54 Massachusetts 15- to 24-year-olds overdosed on opiates, which
include heroin and similar drugs - up from 17 in 1998.

There were 2,532 people between 15 and 24 hospitalized in 2002 for opiate
use, up from 1,174 in 1998. The public health department monitors rehab
admissions, emergency-room visits, overdoses and hospital discharge data.

"In all of those indicators we are seeing significant increased use of
heroin and OxyContin, particularly among younger kids," Michael Botticelli,
assistant commissioner for substance abuse, told the Boston Herald. "We're
hearing that kids are moving very quickly from OxyContin to heroin."

Lowell police Capt. Robert DeMoura said "it can happen to anyone's kids."
He described catching a thief breaking into a minivan, and discovering that
the culprit was a former wrestler he had coached who had turned to heroin use.

"Don't for one minute think I'm not worried about my kids getting hooked up
on heroin," DeMoura said.

Even as the state wrestles with a heroin epidemic, the state could lose
more than $9 million in federal aid for drug treatment as a penalty for
three years of cuts to substance abuse services, The Boston Globe reported.

The Department of Public Health has cut nearly $11 million from drug
treatment, and drug and alcohol abuse prevention. Gov. Mitt Romney is
proposing another $2 million in additional cuts for next year.

States that receive funds from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services pledge to maintain consistent levels of support for drug treatment.

The agency told Massachusetts late last year that because of the cuts, the
state could lose $9.2 million from the $34.3 it was to receive for next year.

"The potential loss of another $9 million in substance abuse funding would
be disastrous to the Commonwealth," said John Auerbach, executive director
of the Boston Public Health Commission.

Federal authorities, who denied an appeal from the state last month, said
they have little choice. "As much as it may pain us to this, it's the law,"
said Mark Weber, spokesman for the federal agency.