OVERDOSES REKINDLE TAINTED-HEROIN FEARS

At least 12 users fell ill, officials said. "Their next dose of
heroin could be their last," a prosecutor warned.

At least a dozen drug addicts overdosed in Camden yesterday,
authorities said, stirring fears that another wave of the tainted
heroin responsible for more than 100 deaths nationwide has hit the region.

None of the victims died yesterday, though at least two were listed
in critical condition at Cooper University Hospital. All fell ill
with respiratory distress and seizures after injecting heroin,
authorities said.

The killer drug also appears to have returned to other parts of the
Philadelphia region. In Chester County, officials said they suspect
three people died from the drug last week. They also said toxicology
tests confirmed two deaths from the bad heroin that occurred in April and May.

In the Camden cases, the symptoms are similar to the adverse effects
felt from the supply of fentanyl-tainted heroin that hit
Philadelphia, South Jersey and Delaware in April. Around a dozen
people died then, but the overdoses tapered off toward the end of that month.

Blood tests on the victims yesterday had not been completed, so
officials could not say with certainty that the users had injected
fentanyl-tainted heroin.

But that didn't stop them from issuing yet another urgent warning to addicts.

"The stakes could not be higher," said James P. Lynch, acting Camden
County prosecutor. "They have to understand that their next dose of
heroin could be their last."

The Camden victims all overdosed around Broadway, between Mickle
Boulevard and Pine Street, an area blocks from Cooper Hospital. They
had injected heroin from bags the dealers had branded "100 percent,"
"Nightmare," "Black Magic" and "Bad Boy."

Two people remained on ventilators after overdosing in Chester,
Delaware County, earlier this week. Authorities there blamed those
overdoses on fentanyl-laced heroin.

Philadelphia officials said they had seen no recent jump in overdoses.

Earlier this month, federal agents raided an illicit lab in Mexico
they said could have been the source of the fentanyl. Still,
overdoses have continued around the country, including a rash in
Pittsburgh. Officials said that the supply of tainted heroin would
take some time to disappear, even if they had closed off the source.

Police and drug enforcement agencies held a summit this week in
Chicago, the city hit hardest by the fentanyl overdoses, to
coordinate their efforts.

Fentanyl is a legal painkiller described as 80 times stronger than
morphine. Drug enforcement agents have said just 125 micrograms - the
equivalent of a few grains of salt - can be fatal. Authorities have
found that some overdose victims unwittingly bought and injected bags
that were nearly pure fentanyl.

Overdoses tend to drive up heroin's demand, as addicts seek out ever
more pure product.