KING COUNTY DRUG DEATHS SET RECORD IN '98

Last year was a record-setting one for deaths from drugs in King
County.

Drug-caused deaths increased 27 percent in 1998 when compared with the
previous year, according to the King County medical examiner's annual
report on death trends. Of the 229 drug-caused deaths, 145 were from
opiates such as heroin, and 62 were from cocaine, usually mixed with
other drugs or alcohol.

The report, released Tuesday, was based on the medical examiner's
investigation of a quarter of King County's 12,838 deaths in 1998.

Among other key findings:

Homicides decreased slightly, from 97 in 1997 to 90 last
year.

Firearms were used in 61 percent of homicides.

Suicides increased to 201, up from 188 in 1997, which was the lowest
number in 13 years. In contrast, the Medical Examiner's Office handled
238 suicides in 1996.

Teen suicides dropped from 15 in 1997 to nine.

The most common cause of accidental death was an overdose of drugs and
poisons. The second most common was falling.

Sixty-six percent of drivers and passengers who died in automobile
accidents weren't wearing seat belts; the number for bicycle deaths in
which no helmet was worn was five out of six.

Ninety percent of motorcyclists who died were wearing
helmets.

The sharp increase in deaths from drugs stands out from the medical
examiner's other statistics, but didn't surprise Sgt. Roger Thompson
of the King County Sheriff's Department's drug-enforcement unit.

"We're seeing an increase not only in the use of heroin, but also in
organized-crime groups that have targeted this area because it's a
wide-open market," Thompson said.

The demand for heroin is growing with the county's population, and
local law enforcement has never had to deal with a drug problem of
this size before, Thompson said. As a result, the county has been
rated the nation's third highest for heroin use, and one of six High
Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTAs) in Washington state.

"We've done interviews with suspects and asked them why they target
this area, and their reply is that they're not afraid of law
enforcement up here," he said.

And while the medical examiner's report measures drug-caused deaths,
Thompson said the number that are drug-related is unknown but much
greater.

"Drug-related crimes are interconnected with drug use and drug sales -
robberies, domestic violence, fraud, child abuse - it's not a single
specific category," he said.

A variety of experts testified on the city's drug problem yesterday.
at a conference in SeaTac sponsored by the National Institute on Drug
Abuse. The specialists were discussing recent advances in drug-abuse
treatment and prevention.

Seattle was one of two cities selected this year by the institute for
one of the town meetings to discuss the issues.
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Note: The authors' phone-message number is 206-464-8259. His e-mail address
is mrahner@seattletimes.com