MANY VICTIMS HAD OTHER HEALTH PROBLEMS

Other disorders were exacerbated by cocaine abuse, reports show

Many of the accidental cocaine death victims in Milwaukee County last year
suffered from poor health conditions or psychiatric disorders that were most
likely worsened by their cocaine abuse and other habits harmful to their
health, medical examiner's reports show.

Here are snapshots of some of the victims:

A 47-year-old A.O. Smith welder had been using cocaine for more than a
decade despite the fact that he suffered from asthma and sometimes used a
breathing machine and inhalers.

The man not only smoked crack cocaine, but smoked cigarettes and drank half
a pint of brandy two times a week.

A 39-year-old amputee had been taking narcotics to control the pain he
suffered since being injured while working at a Harley-Davidson Inc. plant.

The man lay dead in his home for several days while his friends tried to
reach him by phone. The friends said later they were fearful of visiting the
man without calling first because he had "numerous guns and knives in his
apartment," and they were afraid that he "may take action if he feels
threatened."

A 37-year-old woman suffered from hypertension, had a history of psychiatric
problems and had to undergo dialysis because a gunshot wound required that
both of her kidneys be removed.

"I don't want to live," the woman said once, complaining about her health.
"I have no life."

The woman's boyfriend says he used to "lock her up" in the house to keep her
from going out on the streets to buy drugs.

A 50-year-old Milwaukee County social worker was described by relatives as
"always a junkie" also suffered from bronchitis and depression.

The man's family "used to call him a garbage can" because he would "take
anything he could get his hands on," including cocaine, heroin and marijuana.

A 35-year-old man who died after taking cocaine and heroin had been using
drugs since age 10.

Relatives said the man, who once tried to hang himself in the Milwaukee
County Jail, "uses just about any drug he can get his hands on," including
marijuana, cocaine, morphine and methadone.

The man also smoked cigarettes and drank alcohol.

A 41-year-old woman whose children -- ages 17, 12 and 10 -- found her
shortly after she overdosed on cocaine had a history of alcohol abuse and
suffered from cirrhosis of the liver. The woman also suffered from hepatitis
and AIDS.

A 48-year-old unemployed man had previously suffered three heart attacks and
had undergone five bypass surgeries.

The man died after taking some cocaine at the residence of a man named "Sly."

When investigators arrived at the scene, they found numerous people inside
Sly's house "flushing things down the toilet."

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett