STRIVE FOR LABEL WORTH HAVING

Is New Bedford the "heroin capital" of New England, as Fox News talk show
host Bill O'Reilly dubbed it while interviewing Emilio Cruz?

The city is probably not the capital just because it is so much smaller
than places such as Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport and Boston.

But there is no doubt that New Bedford has a major heroin problem and is
considered by federal officials to be a major hub for distribution of the drug.

And there is no doubt that the city has been slow to face up to its drug
problem. Denial is deeply woven into the political fabric of the city.

The recent spate of murders has forced the city to begin to face up to the
drug problem. The Jericho marches through neighborhoods these past three
Sundays, the plan to bring warring youths to the table, and the
announcement that the Police Department will institute community policing
are all immediate reactions to this rise in drug-related crime. All the
actions are overdue as the city faces the harsh reality that has been
building for more than a decade.

Heroin is not a new problem here. At least two Standard-Times reporters
have done articles in recent years about the high number of babies born at
St. Luke's Hospital who are addicted to opiates. One generation is passing
addiction to the next.

A higher number of addicted babies are born at this small, regional
hospital than at Women and Infants in Providence, a large obstetrical hospital.

Treatment providers estimate that the city of less than 90,000 has 4,000
heroin addicts. More than 1,200 addicts attend one of two methadone clinics
in the city. And within those clinics, the addicts are given higher doses
of methadone to combat purer strains of heroin than the average clinic in
the nation.

New Bedford might not be the New England capital, but it is a place where
heroin is as deeply embedded as anywhere in this region.

New Bedford and communities across New England must fight to lower the
demand for this life-sapping drug. Young people must be educated to turn
away from it and other harmful drug addictions. The police must work
closely with residents to root out the distribution networks hiding in our
neighborhoods, and the district attorney and courts must use every tool
available to put the major dealers and distributors behind bars.

New Bedford can turn the unhappy label bestowed by Mr. O'Reilly into a new
label. The Whaling City of old must become the city that fought hardest,
with all the available allies and resources, against the scourge of this
addiction. That is a label worth having.