LACED HEROIN RAISES DEADLY CONCERNS

Overdoses Are Investigated

MOUNT OLIVE TWP. - When authorities went to investigate two reported
drug overdoses in Budd Lake last month they found glassine bags of
heroin inscribed with the letters "Dunkin Donuts."

Detective John Walker, who heads the police narcotic unit, knew
immediately what that meant and it had nothing to do with doughnuts.

"Dunkin Donuts" is the stamp that some heroin dealers have been known
to put on bags of drugs laced with a powerful, prescription,
painkiller known as fentanyl. And while the additive gives users a
strong, kick, it can also be deadly.

In the case of the Budd Lake overdoses, both people were hospitalized
and later recovered.

"That normally doesn't happen," said Walker.

The drugs seized in the Budd Lake overdose have been sent for testing
to the N.J. State Police Laboratory.

Walker said dealers are lacing heroin to make it more attractive and
to be more competitive with other drug dealers. Fentanyl-laced heroin
is 80 to 100 times more potent than the non-laced drug.

"It's a marketing thing," Walker said. "But fentanyl is very dangerous to use."

Federal authorities said an increasing number of fatal overdoses have
been reported from Chicago to the East Coast and most recently in the
tri-state region of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. In New
Jersey, most of the overdoses have been reported in Camden.

Authorities reported there have been seven fentanyl-laced heroin
overdose deaths in Camden and overall, 75 reported in southern New
Jersey, all since April.

White House Concerns

In response to growing concerns over the illegal use of fentanyl, the
White House Office of National Drug Control Policy convened a seminar
on July 28 at the University of Pennsylvania.

"They've discovered a new way to market their product, much like a
soft drink manufacturer might," John Walters, director of the
national office, told a group of law enforcement and other
authorities. "Add a twist to boost sales. The problem with the added
ingredient that brings us here today is that it makes you stop breathing."

Walters said the latest estimates were that there have been more than
170 deaths and 300 non-fatal overdoses in New Jersey, Pennsylvania
and Delaware in the four months from April through July.

He said the spike in fentanyl-related deaths mirrored the increase in
overall heroin abuse in urban and sub urban communities.

The added potency of fentanlyl-laced heroin has triggered an
estimated two to three times as many overdoses as has been seen in
past years, Walters said.

According to Walters, emergency room workers at some hospitals in New
Jersey reported treating five to six fentanyl-laced heroin overdoses per shift

"Simply, fentanyl turns a syringe into a loaded gun," Walters said.

He said most of the fentanyl is currently being made in clandestine
labs but that it is expected there will be an increase in the abuse
of prescription fentanyl as was the case with the abuse of oxycontin
several years ago.

According to a June 16 report from the National Institute on Drug
Abuse, Fentanyl was introduced in 1968 by a Belgian pharmaceutical
company as a synthetic narcotic to be used as an analgesic in
surgical procedures because of its minimal effects on the heart.
Fentanyl is particularly dangerous because it is so much more potent
than heroin and can rapidly stop respiration.

"This is not a problem during surgical procedures because machines
are used to help patients breathe. On the street, however, users have
been found dead with the needle used to inject the drug still in his
or her arm," the report said.

In its prescription form, fentanyl is known as Actiq, Duragesic, and
Sublimaze. Street names for the drug include Apache, China girl,
China white, dance fever, friend, goodfella, jackpot, murder 8, TNT,
as well as Tango and Cash, the report said.

When prescribed by a physician, fentanyl is often administered via
injection, transdermal patch, or in lozenge form, the report said.

Effects of mixing fentanyl with street-sold heroin or cocaine
include: euphoria, drowsiness/respiratory depression and arrest,
nausea, confusion, constipation, sedation, unconsciousness, coma,
tolerance, and addiction.

Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug
Addition, said in the report that fentanyl's superior potency makes
it a good medication for pain and a good target for abuse.

"And while it may not be as familiar as other prescription opiates or
street drugs like heroin, it is causing a wave of overdoses and
deaths, not from its diversion for non-medical purposes, but likely a
result of illicit drug manufacturing," Volkow said.