Death of boy, 14, raises alarm on smoking heroin

By JULIE DELVECCHIO and NATHAN VASS

In what is believed to be among the youngest heroin deaths in the State,
a 14yearold boy has died from a suspected overdose, sparking health
warnings on the dangers of smoking the drug.

Police have confirmed that Lawrence King, from Sydney's southern
suburbs, died from a suspected heroin overdose around 7am on September
10.

Lawrence is believed to have consumed a mixture of heroin, cannabis and
alcohol.

Toxicology tests are yet to be completed but police believe he overdosed
from smoking heroin, not injecting the drug, according to the officer in
charge of the investigation, Detective Constable Robert Critchlow, of
Botany Bay police.

Constable Critchlow said he believed Lawrence had sprinkled heroin
on cannabis and smoked it in a bong known as "snowconing".

"The only evidence I have been supplied with is that he smoked heroin.
We had a close look at him and we could not find an injection site," he
said. "I think he has died from respiratory failure due to the use of
heroin, which is an overdose."

His grieving mother, Ms Jennifer King, urged young people not to mix
drugs, be aware of the risks associated with smoking heroin and call an
ambulance at the first sign of illness.

"If you have to smoke heroin or inject heroin, for God's sake don't mix
it with anything else, whether it be alcohol, prescription drugs you
might be taking, marijuana anything at all," Ms King said.

Her comments came as Ashfield Uniting Church held a special memorial
service last night for the families of victims of drug abuse.

Ms King said a lack of awareness of the effects of drugs and a fear of
police repercussions stopped Lawrence's friends from calling an
ambulance.

"Lawrence at some stage turned blue in the mouth and his ears went a
blueypurpley colour and they became alarmed, but still nobody took any
sort of sensible action, probably due to lack of education about what
was happening, or their fear a fear that they might be blamed for
something," she said.

Constable Critchlow also urged people to call an ambulance at the first
sign of a suspected overdose.

"Even if police are called, our primary concern is the preservation of
life, not the pursuit of a minor drug matter," he said.

"Taking or using an illegal drug is not considered a serious offence and
surely a person's life is much more important than that."

Ms King said she was concerned that smoking heroin was becoming more
popular among young people as a method of taking the drug.

The director of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, Professor
Wayne Hall, said that smoking heroin with other drugs could be the
"straw that breaks the camel's back" in terms of a fatal overdose.

But it would be difficult for someone to overdose solely from smoking
heroin, he said.

"We are aware of three deaths following smoking in circumstances where
people have combined smoking with other drug use," Professor Hall said.
"People can underestimate the risk of overdosing from smoking heroin ...
We want to correct the misconception that this is a safe way to use
heroin."

Constable Critchlow said the official cause of Lawrence's death was yet
to be determined. It was likely that an inquest would be held early next
year.

Ms King urged parents to treat every moment with their children as
precious.

"The message I have is about the value of life, its preciousness and how
fragile it is," she said.

"Each person needs to be conscious of that, because we don't know when
we will take our last breath.

"As mothers and as parents, we need to love our children and accept them
and value each moment because that's all we have. The time we have with
our children is now."