DRUG CZAR EYES PROGRESS VS HEROIN ADDICTION

New England's deadly addiction to cheap, super-pure smack shows some signs
of slowing, U.S. drug czar John Walters said yesterday in Boston.

"The rates of use have not continued to rise. We hope that's a plateau,"
Walters said, citing tentative federal drug use data.

Heroin-related emergency room visits in Boston have soared to triple the
national average in recent years. The number of fatal overdoses -
especially among teens and young adults - also have been rising at alarming
rates.

John Auerbach, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission,
said the latest figures he's seen indicate heroin overdoses and emergency
room visits continue to rise here. Meanwhile, the number of beds in drug
treatment programs has been cut in half by budget cuts, he said.

"We believe the lack of available treatment is the biggest problem we are
facing now in the substance abuse area," Auerbach said. "We are still
reeling from the loss of 50 percent of the detoxification beds in Boston
and around the state."

In a meeting with Herald editors, Walters said he was encouraged the
governor and Legislature had moved to restore substance abuse funding cut
from the proposed state budget.

"I think now there is a recognition that you can't adequately deal with
substance abuse without treatment," he said.

Walters was in Boston promoting the White House Office of Drug Control
Policy's new "25-Cities Initiative" to target drug use in big cities like
the Hub. He met with city and state officials and the staff of the city's
central intake facility, which tries to help addicts and doctors locate
treatment programs with available beds.

Auerbach said the loss of so many programs to budget cuts and to state
health insurance cutbacks means central intake often must turn away people.

"You've suffered badly here, and everybody knows that, but we have an
opportunity to make that better," Walters said.

Auerbach said the new initiative, at least at first, won't bring more
federal bucks for drug treatment.

"We're hopeful that working cooperatively we can make a strong case that we
need those extra dollars," he said.