POLICE SEEK KIN OF HEROIN VICTIM

Drug becoming more and more lethal, experts say

Police are trying to find the family of a 20-year-old Nova Scotia drifter
who died of a heroin overdose downtown.

The man and a 21-year-old male friend were found unconscious on Bulwer St.,
near Spadina Ave. and Queen St. W., just before 1 a.m. yesterday, said
Detective Craig Lewers.

The dead man was known as Ben. Police said he was about 5-foot-10 and 140
pounds with reddish-blond hair and a tattoo on his right biceps. He was
pronounced dead at the scene.

His friend was treated at hospital and released.

Genevieve, a passing panhandler, said she heard a woman scream as the man
lay dying outside an office doorway.

``She was screaming, `He's dying, he's dying.' She was freaking out,''
Genevieve, 18, recalled yesterday.

Police say heroin use is becoming more prevalent among street kids.

The drug has become increasingly more affordable in Canada and therefore
easier to obtain, said drug squad Detective Rick Chase.

``Today you can buy a gram of heroin for about $200, as opposed to $600 or
$700 per gram 10 years ago,'' Chase said. ``That's only about 30 or 40 bucks
a hit. It's easy for street kids to come up with that kind of money.''

Police don't know whether the victim died of an overdose or from a lethal
hit of heroin so pure a regular amount could cause an overdose.

``The amount of pure heroin on the street right now is unbelievable,'' Chase
said. ``There's been such an influx of the drug into Canada. And because the
supply is so high, it's gotten cheaper.''

Dr. David Marsh, of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, agreed it's
becoming easier to get hooked on heroin.

``Because of the increased purity of heroin on the streets, people don't
have to use needles to do the drug. When it's pure enough you can smoke it,
snort it. People become introduced to the drug who would have never stuck a
needle in their arm before they got addicted.''

Heroin users are being warned about a potentially lethal concentration of
Chinese heroin on the streets of Toronto, said a staffer at The Works, a
mobile needle exchange for intravenous drug users.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett