TAKING 'BANG' OUT OF LETHAL DRUG COCKTAIL

Law-enforcement officials and health-care providers agree there is an
alarming rise in fentanyl-laced heroin deaths nationwide. They aren't
yet settled on what to do about it.

Fentanyl, a painkiller that is 50 to 100 times more potent than
morphine, is mixed with heroin to provide a "bigger bang" for users -
a bang that can kill them as sure as if it came from a loaded handgun.

The drug is so potent that authorities say a person should not even
touch it. The smallest grain of fentanyl can be fatal if inhaled or
absorbed through the pores of the hands, they say.

"It's a lethal combination. If addicts are searching for a super buzz,
they are paying with their lives," says Dr. G. Gary Kirchner, the
Lancaster County coroner.

Fentanyl is typically prescribed to alleviate cancer pain. It also can
be used to anesthetize patients or control chronic coughing and diarrhea.

Taken improperly, the drug can cause an irregular heartbeat, shortness
of breath - and death.

The tainted fentanyl, which apparently is manufactured in illegal
labs, is sold for $10 to $20 a bag as "Magic," "China White," "China
Girl" or "Dance Fever."

Or it may have no name at all, being advertised on the street as "just
as good or a better high than heroin (alone)," authorities say.

Nationwide, at least 500 deaths from fentanyl overdoses have been
confirmed since April of 2005, mostly in large cities like
Philadelphia, Chicago and Detroit.

However, authorities here are looking into the possibility that two
recent deaths - one in Lancaster City and the other in Mount Joy
Township - are related to the lethal drug cocktail.

Also, police in Reading, Harrisburg and Lebanon fear they have
fentanyl-related cases on their hands.

At a recent "Fentanyl-Laced Heroin Demand Reduction Forum" in
Philadelphia, the experts discussed a range of options - some doable,
some not so doable - to address the growing epidemic.

Police and health-care providers could share information to track the
drug's sources, which could lead to the arrest of suppliers, the
experts say.

But some agencies become territorial and resist information-sharing.
Still, it can be effective, if given the chance.

Also, victims could be automatically screened for fentanyl, an
effective, although costly, option that isn't always conclusive.

A third possibility - probably the most difficult of all to achieve -
is for pharmacologists to develop drugs for medical use that can't be
abused by addicts.

"It's going to take all of us working together to fight this problem.
People are dying - they're black and white, from the cities and the
suburbs - while drug dealers are turning a profit," says Patrick L.
Meehan, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District, who participated in
the Philadelphia forum.

There's one possibility - not discussed at the forum - that should be
avoided at all costs.

It comes from Washington, D.C.-based Common Sense for Drug Policy,
which advocates "harm-reduction alternatives" to the crackdown on
illegal drug use.

"The drug war doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime," says Robert
Sharpe, a policy analyst for the group.

Still, it's difficult to see how a drug policy that coddles criminals
would achieve the ultimate goal: an end to illegal drug use.

Cynics say that's not possible, but acceptance of failure should not
be the policy of the U.S. government.

The Philly forum and others like it around the nation are a "call to
action." There are options on the table.

The strategy that makes the most sense to us combines criminal
prosecution with medical treatment.

Medical treatment alone, as envisioned by the legalize-all-drugs
crowd, is a call to do nothing.