BAD HEROIN BATCH KILLS 20 IN 2011

Drug Sold Now in Lower Mainland Is Rated 'At Least Twice As Potent As Usual'

A batch of double-strength heroin has killed twice as many people as
usual in the Lower Mainland so far this year, the B.C. Coroners
Service has warned.

"Heroin being dealt to users in some areas is at least twice as potent
as usual," the coroners service advised Thursday, citing 20 heroin
overdose deaths so far in 2011, double the number of deaths for this
time last year.

Drug users should "never be alone when ingesting drugs, and where
possible use available community services such as INSITE or needle
exchanges," the coroners service warned.

At INSITE, B.C.'s only supervised injection site, the waiting room was
full Thursday of anxious drug-users waiting for a cubicle to safely
inject drugs.

INSITE registered nurse Tim Gauthier, one of two on-duty nurses who
save on average the lives of 18 to 23 overdosing users a month,
confirmed "we have had 36 overdoses just from April 5 to May 5 this
year."

None of the 3,000-plus people who have overdosed at INSITE has ever
died.

But in alleys or hotel rooms, drug users who shoot up potent heroin
are dying.

Victor, 41, an intravenous drug user since 1997, confirmed "I've heard
people say there's strong heroin being sold that just makes people
drop.

"That's why I would never, ever shoot up alone -you shoot up in an
alley or in your room and by the time you can say 'Uh-oh,' it's too
late.

"Here if you OD, and I've done it twice, they're going to bring you
back."

Mark Townsend of the Portland Hotel Society, which runs INSITE, said
"the Vancouver police haven't warned us about especially potent heroin
and they're usually pretty good about that."

Townsend, and Gauthier for the B.C. Nurses' Union as interveners, go
to Ottawa next Wednesday to hear the federal government's appeal of
two B.C. Court rulings that have allowed INSITE to stay open.

INSITE backers have won two B.C. court rulings based on Charter rights
and provincial jurisdiction over the safeinjection site, but the feds
appear determined to close INSITE, despite backing by police and coroners.

VPD Const. Lindsey Houghton said "we don't attend all ODs unless they
are deemed suspicious," and added he had "no information available. We
don't test the heroin ourselves."

Five heroin overdose deaths have occurred in Vancouver so far this
year, compared to only one in all of 2010.

After two recent overdose deaths Kelowna RCMP and the coroners service
have done tests revealing super-potent heroin, but don't yet know its
source.

The deaths have occurred throughout the Lower Mainland, including
Burnaby, Surrey, Abbotsford and Chilliwack, said regional coroner
Vince Stancato.