SHARP JUMP IN CASES OF DEATH OR INJURY FROM SMOKING HEROIN

Seven B.C. residents have died and 10 others have had their nervous
systems severely damaged after smoking toxic heroin between January
and July this year.

That's a dramatic increase from last year, when two people died and
two were harmed in the same period.

Dr. John Blatherwick, chief medical health officer for Vancouver
Coastal Health, said it's not clear why so many people are suffering
from so-called heroin-induced toxic leukoencephalopathy.

Smoking heroin, or "chasing the dragon" as it is sometimes called,
involves heating heroin with a flame over aluminum or tin foil and
then inhaling the white smoke, or pyrolysate, through a small tube.

Only a handful of the cases are in Vancouver's drug-infested Downtown
Eastside. Most are in communities around the Lower Mainland, with a
few in the Okanagan, said Blatherwick.

Symptoms include difficulty speaking, walking or getting out of bed
after smoking even small amounts of heroin, he said.