MORE POTENT HEROIN IS MAKING ITS WAY ACROSS EASTERN IOWA

CEDAR RAPIDS -- A purer and more potent form of heroin is spreading
across eastern Iowa and leaving a trail of bodies in its path, said
state and federal officials.

The resurgence of the opiate is to blame for six deaths in Linn
County in the last 19 months, and 25 deaths across Iowa's eastern
half in the last five years, U.S. Attorney Charles Larson said Thursday.

Arrests and convictions are up as well, as more than 20 cases have
been filed in the federal Northern District court in Iowa since
August, Larson said.

"Fortunately we have seen no heroin-related deaths in Linn County in
the last five months," Larson said. "But that could change in a heartbeat."

For now, officials say they have yet to find a more lethal form of
heroin that has claimed the lives of more than 200 users in cities
like Chicago, Philadelphia and Detroit.

But they warned it may just be a matter of time before dealers begin
peddling heroin mixed with Fenatyl, a legally prescribed painkiller
that is 80 times stronger than morphine. Even the smallest amounts of
Fenatyl -- quantities no bigger than a couple of grains of salt --
can be deadly.

"We haven't seen it yet, luckily," said Rick LaMere, the lead agent
for the Drug Enforcement Agency in Cedar Rapids. "But a lot of the
criminal activity that takes place in Chicago eventually makes its
way here ... mostly through gang-related activity."

The news comes as Iowa law enforcement officials report a decline in
methamphetamine use and discovery of labs where the drug is produced.
For nearly a decade, meth use and production stretched across the
state, both in urban centers as well as rural towns.

Officials say the rise in heroin doesn't appear as prolific as meth.
In Iowa, use is concentrated along an eastern portion that includes
Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, which has reported two heroin-related
deaths in recent months.

Officials say it's difficult to explain the increase in heroin use,
overdoses and deaths. Kevin Carter, director of the Iowa Department
of Narcotics, said authorities have shifted some of their resources
from meth investigations to heroin use.

Recent investigations, arrests and the improved quality of the drug
also show a changing nature of heroin use. For decades, the
stereotypical heroin user injected the drug in back alleys or
abandoned buildings, LaMere said. But today's users cut across all
age, educational and financial demographics.

The purity of the drug, with a street value of $400 per half-gram,
allows users to snort it like cocaine.

"With heroin, even a small dose with the right person in the right
circumstance can be deadly," said Dr. Donnie Linder, Linn County's
medical examiner. "With high purity levels and contaminants in
heroin, using heroin can be like playing Russian Roulette."