DRUG COCKTAIL CAUSES OVERDOSES FROM PHILLY TO CHICAGO

DETROIT -- Larry, a 53-year-old heroin addict, has two cardinal
rules: Never shoot up alone, and only shoot up one at a time. If one
person overdoses, "you need someone there to bring you back," he said.

Larry, who asked that his last name not be used because of his
illegal habit, recited his rules after hearing that a mixture of
heroin and a powerful painkiller has been killing unsuspecting users
who believe they are taking pure heroin.

Officials from Philadelphia to Chicago have reported deaths from the
drug, called fentanyl and considered 80 times more powerful than
morphine. In the Detroit area -- the apparent hub of the problem with
more than 100 confirmed cases since last fall and about two dozen
suspected ones in the last week -- officials from the national
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating, and
community organizations are scrambling to get the word out to users.

The CDC says it has no national statistics on fentanyl deaths and has
only been asked to investigate in Michigan. But individual reports
from a scattering of states indicate the drug is widespread.

In Philadelphia, there have been 20 confirmed deaths from heroin
mixed with fentanyl since April 17, and test results are pending for
another eight suspected cases, the city health department said.

In New Jersey, where officials first raised the alarm about the drug
in April, there have been about 10 confirmed fentanyl deaths and
another 10 to 20 suspected cases since last month, according to the
state's poison control center.

In Chicago, 30 people have died from fentanyl or fentanyl-laced
heroin from September 2005 to March 2006, said Christopher Hoyt, a
spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in that city.
Another 23 suspected cases were reported in April and May.

"This is a huge, huge problem," said Stephen Marcus, medical director
of the New Jersey Poison Control Center.