HEROIN DEATHS REMAIN HIGH IN PALM BEACH COUNTY

Once a dark, ominous drug delivered through a needle to emaciated junkies,
heroin is making a deadly local comeback in a cheaper, more-potent form that
can be smoked or snorted.

Heroin-related deaths in Palm Beach County remained high again in 1999, one
year after the entire state saw a dramatic rise in fatalities as a result of
the drug's increasing availability.

According to a report issued earlier this month by the Palm Beach County
Medical Examiner's Office, 17 people overdosed on heroin or morphine last
year. There were 19 deaths the previous year.

By comparison, only six people overdosed on the drug in 1997. Heroin and
morphine are both derived from the resin of the poppy plant and are
essentially the same drug.

The new Palm Beach County figures suggest that the trend is continuing for
South Florida and the rest of the state. No official figures for 1999 have
been released yet for Broward County, or by the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement, which tracks drug trends with data submitted by medical
examiner districts. But law enforcement officials say they see no signs of
significant decline.

"We're seeing a trend that continues to stay high," said Florida drug czar
Jim McDonough, who is director of the recently created office of drug
control policy. "We haven't turned the corner yet to bring it down."

Bill Pellan, a forensic investigator with the Palm Beach County Medical
Examiner's Office, said the 1999 numbers could actually be higher because
they don't take into account cases in which heroin was mixed with other
fatal doses of drugs.

"Maybe (heroin) is new to (victims) and they don't understand how dangerous
and fatal it can be," Pellan said about the death cases.

Only three weeks ago, a West Palm Beach waitress nearly overdosed on heroin
when a co-worker found her passed out on a couch in Delray Beach.

The co-worker told police she was not breathing and that he couldn't get a
response from her, a report said. The 22-year-old was taken to Delray
Medical Center after paramedics revived her.

And three weeks earlier, Delray Beach police investigated another
heroin-related incident.

A 28-year-old day laborer died Feb. 3 in Delray Beach after overdosing on
heroin, police said.

"It's definitely on the rise," said Detective Gene Sapino of the Delray
Beach Police Department.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement officials publicly expressed alarm
after noticing large increases in heroin overdoses across the state in 1998.

A total of 206 people died that year from heroin overdoses, up 51 percent
over the previous year. Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties
accounted for more than half of those deaths. In Broward County, 37 people
died from heroin in 1998.

The problem prompted Gov. Jeb Bush to launch an educational and enforcement
campaign last April to combat the situation.

Cheap and Pure

Availability is the key factor in the growth of heroin use, experts say.
Colombian drug lords, traditionally known for cocaine production and
distribution, are starting to cultivate and ship larger and larger amounts
of heroin, said Joe Kilmer, spokesman for the Drug Enforcement
Administration in Miami.

The drug now comes in a powder form and is packaged the same way as cocaine,
Kilmer said. The Colombians are simply bringing it into South Florida using
the same routes and methods employed for cocaine, he said.

The problem is, it's hitting the streets in a much purer form, reaching
levels as high as 95 percent, McDonough said.

"Prior to that, we would be shocked if it was at 60 percent," he said. "And
it used to be only 30 percent pure. It's now at killing levels."

As a result, the number of DEA heroin investigations in the past two years
has tripled, Kilmer said.

In Palm Beach County, heroin arrests are way up, said Lt. Matt Eisenberg, of
the sheriff's narcotics unit. Exact numbers were not available.

"We're seeing more and more of it," Eisenberg said. "It's cheap, it's out
there and people are trying it."

McDonough said they are focusing on a campaign with the help of local, state
and federal police to learn how the drug is coming into Florida.

"There are 3 metric tons of heroin entering Florida each year," he said.

Typically, it originates in Colombia and arrives on an island such as Puerto
Rico, so smugglers can catch a domestic flight into Miami, thereby bypassing
Customs, he said.

Then it's unloaded almost immediately in South Florida, he said.

"We're trying to pick up trends and use intelligence to stop it cold,"
McDonough said.

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Another factor in heroin's resurgence is the fact that it has become a
"designer drug," authorities say.

Pure heroin is a white powder with a bitter taste, although the street
version usually is a mixture of substances. Yet because of its higher
purity, street heroin can now be snorted or smoked like cocaine, allowing
users to avoid the telltale needle marks of a junkie.

"It's overcome the stigma of the needle; of the junkie lying in the street
waiting for his next fix," McDonough said.

While usage is not limited to any particular socioeconomic or ethnic group,
authorities say they're seeing more young people trying it, especially in
South Florida's trendy club scene.

Kilmer said club and rave crowds often mix it with other drugs, such as
ecstasy.

"Kids all over the country are looking for new ways to get high," he said.
"They think this stuff won't affect them. They never know what it is they're
ingesting."

Heroin abuse also is no longer limited to the inner city. The typical
overdose victim in Florida is a white, middle-aged man, according to FDLE
statistics.

Phil Bulone, a drug educator for the Drug Abuse Foundation of Palm Beach
County, said he's noticing more people admitted to their treatment center
for heroin addictions.

"People who snort or smoke it don't see themselves as an addict," he said.

Patients go through intensive treatment and counseling at the Delray Beach
center, Bulone said, but not every case is a success story.

"There is a high relapse rate," said Bulone, a retired New York Police
Department narcotics detective. "You have to have a firm commitment."