HEROIN DEADLIEST DRUG IN CITIES

Report says drug is purer and cheaper today, and it kills more than cocaine

Heroin -- now cheaper and purer -- has pushed aside cocaine as the deadliest
drug in the Twin Cities, according to a Hazelden Foundation report released
Tuesday.

For the first time, overdoses from heroin and other opiates are outnumbering
cocaine-related deaths in Hennepin County, with a sharp rise in such deaths
visible last year in Ramsey County, as well. The Hazelden report, compiled
twice a year by nationally known research analyst Carol Falkowski, shows 17
opiate-related deaths in Hennepin County for the first three months of this
year, compared with 27 deaths in all of 1999. Ramsey County reported 20
opiate-related deaths in 1999, up from 12 the year before.

"Suddenly, we're in the big league with heroin," Falkowski said, referring
to the spread of heroin from major cities to the Midwest. "But the purity is
so high that even an experienced addict can easily overdose."

Falkowski said it's important to remember that despite the dramatic rise of
heroin-related deaths in the Twin Cities, the metro area still ranks last in
the nation on the population-based number of emergency-room visits linked to
heroin. But that doesn't make the drug any less deadly, she said.

Heroin trafficking has expanded from the traditional "Golden Triangle" of
Burma, Laos and Thailand, said Gary Davis, a supervisor for the Minnesota
Drug Enforcement Administration. He said Mexico and Colombia also have
churned out major heroin suppliers in recent years. But no matter where it
comes from, he said, one thing is certain: The drug's purity is higher than
ever and it is sold in smaller, cheaper quantities than the standard $50
dosage.

"There was a time when the (purity level) was 2, 3 or 4 percent," Davis
said. "Now it's common to see 30, 40 or 50 percent. And that's what the
street customer has become accustomed to."

Heroin's image has been revamped, too. The stigma of heroin as a "dirty,
intravenous drug" is being eroded as a new breed of users smokes the
narcotic -- eliminating the telltale track marks from needles. Falkowski
said the profile of a new heroin user looks much like the 23-year-old
Minneapolis man who died of a combination of heroin, Ecstasy and alcohol
last year. New users are young, middle-class and willing to sample several
different drugs, usually at parties.

"In the '90s, heroin became mainstreamed," Falkowski said. "It's now just
another drug at the table. Because people no longer inject it, it's become
just another nose powder people can choose from in a party setting. As the
injecting decreased, so did the stigma about being a junkie."

Mike Milligan at Boys Totem Town juvenile correction center has seen the
number of heroin users rise among the 12- to 18-year-olds he treats.
Milligan believes there are even more users than reported, but they are
reluctant to come forward because of the persistent connotations associated
with heroin.

"It still has that 'Oh, my God! That drug is terrible!' aspect," Milligan
said. "It's that adult, loser-in-the-gutter drug that nobody wants to admit
to doing."

But "heroin chic" is gaining popularity, Falkowski said -- from the
controversial 1997 Calvin Klein ads with emaciated models who looked like
addicts to the liberal heroin use in the movie "Trainspotting" to the
increased acceptance of heroin in the rave scene. Attendees at all-night,
underground raves have been known to combine heroin use with that of Ecstasy
and the newer GHB, commonly known as a date-rape drug.

Other trends pointed out by Falkowski included a slight increase in
cocaine-related deaths, a significant increase in Ecstasy use and the
unusual practice of selling acid on soda crackers. Methamphetamine arrests
have risen in recent years, but Falkowski showed that health problems that
result from the drug have decreased because the metro-area meth supply is so
impure.

Hannah Allam, who covers Dakota County public safety, can be reached at
hallam@pioneerpress.com or (651) 228-2172.