HEROIN CLAIMS 2 MORE

Police across Pennsylvania are working to identify the source of a
recent spate of heroin overdoses and warning users about the
unusually strong drug laced with the painkiller fentanyl.

Two people died in Pittsburgh on Monday -- bringing the total fatal
overdoses here to three since Sunday. At least 36 people have
overdosed in Allegheny County since the drug emerged on the streets
on Friday, authorities said.

"This is a very serious, major problem and we're going to be seeing
it for a while, until the supply runs out," said Pittsburgh police
Cmdr. Thomas Stangrecki. "We're doing all we can to get a handle on
it and get it off the street."

U.S. drug czar John Walters said that federal agents, working in
cooperation with the Mexican government, closed down a lab in Mexico
that might be the main source of the fentanyl that has killed heroin
users in Pennsylvania and seven other states.

He warned drug users that millions of deadly doses of fentanyl-laced
heroin might still be on the streets.

Police are blaming the concoction for yesterday's deaths, both in
Hazelwood. Dorothy Iannone, 56, was found dead inside her Roma Way
home. Lynn Margavo, 30, of Greenfield, was found unconscious inside a
different Hazelwood home and died at UPMC South Side hospital.

Joseph Zielinski, 45, of Verona, was found dead inside an apartment
in Greenfield on Sunday, and police have linked his death to the
fentanyl-laced heroin.

The heroin has been sold in stamp bags marked "Get high or die
trying" and "Dynasty" and sells for $10 to $20 apiece, Stangrecki said.

While Pittsburgh seems to be the hardest hit, the drug also has
surfaced in Bethel Park, West Homestead, West Mifflin, Brentwood and
Tarentum, police said.

Pittsburgh police arrested five people -- dealers and users -- and
investigators have seen some cases where users overdosed and were
revived by paramedics only to overdose again within hours, Stangrecki said.

Pittsburgh EMS Chief Bob McCaughan said he has been talking with
state and local health departments and other emergency responders in
the region about the heroin crisis.

"This isn't just going to be a Pittsburgh problem," said McCaughan,
who is making sure every ambulance has an adequate supply of Narcan,
which is used to treat patients who have overdosed.

Five people have been treated at Mercy Hospital, Uptown, for
overdoses since the deadly brand began circulating in the area, said
spokeswoman Linda Ross.

Allegheny General Hospital in the North Side treated three patients
Sunday and yesterday. Another patient was admitted to West Penn
Hospital in Bloomfield.

Allegheny General doctors typically see one heroin-overdose patient a
day during the summer, said Dr. Fred Harchelroad, chairman of the
hospital's emergency medicine department.

"What happens with these people is someone will find them at home or
in the street after they've been shot up," he said.

The deadlier heroin now on Pittsburgh's streets poses a risk for both
recreational users and junkies, Harchelroad said.

"It's certainly a concern anytime this happens, and people are using
a street drug where they don't know what the dosage is or what the
concentration is," he said. "Not everyone uses heroin on a daily
basis. They can end up killing themselves when they were just trying
to get a little bit of a buzz."

Drug rehabilitation programs are trying to warn their patients, but
heroin dependency is complicated and drug addicts don't always think
rationally, said Rich Takacs, of Mercy Behavioral Health, which
provides mental health services to about 500 substance abuse patients
each year.

"Even though we have evidence that this is killing people in large
proportions, that is not going to be enough for people just to walk
away from it," Takacs said. "I wish it were as simple as telling
someone they need to stop."

Pat Valentine, deputy director of the Allegheny County Office of
Behavioral Health, said the county is relying on community-based
substance abuse and addiction agencies to spread the message about
the dangerous heroin to those at-risk.

Stangrecki said law enforcement can only do so much.

"The warnings are out there, but if they have a problem and they're
determined to get this stuff, they'll do it regardless of whether
they know it could kill them," he said.

Law enforcement officials in Fayette and Westmoreland counties
reported no heroin-related deaths over the weekend, although police
in Latrobe have found two stamp bags.

"We know it's in the area, but we're not sure to what extent," said
Latrobe police Chief Chuck Huska.

Heroin has been a problem in Westmoreland County this year. There
have been 10 drug overdose fatalities and six were linked to heroin,
according to the county coroner's office.

Overdoses and deaths related to heroin laced with fentanyl have
spiked across the country.

Federal agents and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention are reviewing more than 100 fentanyl-related deaths in
Detroit since the fall, and 15 people were hospitalized in Chicago
last month after using the drug. In Missouri, more than six people
have died from overdoses in St. Louis in the past three weeks.

The CDC estimates more than 200 heroin users have died because of
fentanyl across the country in the past few months. The synthetic
painkiller has tainted the heroin supply in Pennsylvania, Illinois,
Michigan, Ohio, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey, authorities said.

This isn't the first time the Pittsburgh area has seen an outbreak of
overdoses and deaths due to tainted heroin. Eighteen people died in
1988 when "China White" -- heroin laced with 3-methyl fentanyl --
surfaced in Western Pennsylvania.

In 1999, high-quality heroin labeled "Red Demon" began appearing in
Pittsburgh and was blamed for two deaths in Westmoreland County.