OVERDOSE DEATHS AT A 7-YEAR LOW

B.C.'s coroner reports one month without a drug death. Some on the Downtown
Eastside credit a recent seizure of high-grade heroin.

For the first time in at least seven years, Vancouver has gone an entire
month without a single drug overdose death, according to a preliminary
report from the B.C. Coroner's Service.

While the reasons for the decline are unclear, some Downtown Eastside
agencies say the RCMP's massive seizure of high-quality heroin last month
likely played a major role.

The agencies say addicts are reporting a shortage of heroin on the streets
after the bust and a noticeable decline in the quality of what is available.

"From what I'm hearing from some of the addicts is that the heroin that's
out there is just crap right now and hard to get," Deb Mearns, coordinator
of the Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood Safety Office, said Tuesday.

"So enforcement could be the reason this time, because there's just not
good quality."

"So let's hear it for law enforcement at that level, which is what people
have been saying for years," John Turvey of the Downtown Eastside Youth
Activities Society, said. "Do those major, major busts and then we really
do feel the impact."

According to the coroner's report, there were no overdose deaths in
Vancouver through all of September. The coroner's service has checked its
records as far back as 1993 and is unable to find another month like it.

"We haven't even had anything that we suspect is an overdose in the month
of September," Vancouver's deputy regional coroner Sherryl Yeager said.
"It's good news as far as I'm concerned."

The entire province has also recorded a significant drop in overdose deaths
in recent months. There were only nine deaths in each of August and
September throughout B.C., compared to an average of 26 a month from
January to July.

Still, the totals remain disturbingly high. B.C. recorded 202 overdose
deaths to the end of September, compared to 204 over the same time period
in 1999.

Vancouver leads all regions with 87 deaths, as opposed to 84 last year. The
total works out to more than 10 a month to the end of August -- before the
deaths suddenly stopped.

Bryan Alleyne, a drug user and president of the Vancouver Area Network of
Drug Users, disputed suggestions the decline is due to the RCMP bust.

"The streets are still flooded with heroin," he said, although he
acknowledged the quality is spotty. "There's a lot of garbage, which is
true, but there is some good stuff out there."

Alleyne believes his own organization's health network has more to do with
the decline. "We go around. We do alley patrols. We exchange needles. We do
a lot of talking to people. . . . I'm not going to take all the credit, but
I think that's a big part of it."

Turvey acknowledged that a number of factors may have played a role, such
as increased discussion in the media about the problem, and more talk in
the community. "There's more understanding of it now." But he still
believes the Sept. 2 drug bust was a "massive contributor."

In that case, members of the RCMP's Greater Vancouver drug section arrested
seven suspects and seized more than 99 kilograms (200 pounds) of high
quality heroin concealed in a shipping container at a warehouse in Burnaby.

The bust was billed as the largest heroin seizure in Canadian history and
police alleged the criminal organization was importing heroin in such
volume it could control the price of the drug by manipulating supply and
demand.

"That was a huge shipment by anyone's standards and it was certainly pure,"
Inspector Terry Towns, who heads the drug section, said Tuesday. "So if
that had gotten to the street there's no doubt there would have been
overdoses as a result of it."

But Towns said he would be more inclined to take credit for the drop in
overdose deaths if the decline continues for several months. "It's hard to
say. It could be just an anomaly on the screen. We'd like to think that
[the bust] had some effect, but how do you measure it?"

Yeager said a drop in the quality of the heroin on the street could have an
impact on the overdose rate. She said Vancouver's addicts have developed a
tolerance for high-grade heroin, so if the quality suddenly declined, the
overdose rate might follow suit. "It would make sense that their tolerance
levels are more than able to take that," Yeager said.

Turvey said he would like to see more research into why the decline
occurred, so that whatever happened can be duplicated. "Anybody with a
brain would say: 'Let's take a researcher. Let's find out why.' If this
works -- whatever it is -- let's find out why it works, you know."