HEROIN USE INCREASES STEEPLY

BOSTON (AP) - Heroin use in Massachusetts has increased dramatically over
the past decade, becoming as prevalent as alcohol abuse among people
entering detoxification programs, public health officials announced
Tuesday. In fiscal year 2002, which ended June 30, 42 percent of the people
entering state-supported substance abuse treatment programs reported using
the opiate within the past year, compared with 19 percent in 1992.

Sixty percent of the people entering detox programs reported using heroin
within the past year, the same percentage as for alcohol abuse.

The report, which was compiled from statistics gathered by several sources
over the past 10 years, showed that the "opioid-related" death rate
increased 156 percent between 1990 and 1998. Opioids include heroin,
morphine, oxycodone and codeine.

"Obvious to everybody here is that behind these statistics are tremendous
human suffering and devastation," Public Health Commission Howard Koh said
Tuesday. "Heroin is suffocating our society. It's invading every corner of
our commonwealth."

The department said it would use the data, which was presented at Tuesday's
meeting of the state Public Health Council, to plan and target services -
including prevention, early identification, treatment and recovery - for
people using heroin.

The problem is most severe among males and young adults, according to
Deborah Klein Walker, associate commissioner for programs and prevention.

Walker and other officials said that Massachusetts' heroin problem mirrors
what is happening in other states in the region.

"Very, very strong heroin is prevalent throughout the Northeast," said
George Festa, director of the New England High Intensity Drug Trafficking.
"I really don't think young people today understand how addictive heroin
is. Once they start, that's it for life."

The heroin in the Northeast, Festa said, has a very high purity, which
allows users to smoke it or inhale it and thereby avoid the stigma and
danger of injection. Festa said they also mistakenly think that it's not as
addictive when taken by some other form than injection.

Some other key findings of the report:

- - In fiscal year 2002, 37 percent of people entering detox programs
reported heroin as the primary drug for which they were seeking treatment.

- - Between fiscal year 1996 and 2001, the rates of opioid-related
hospitalizations rose 74 percent, including a 230 percent increase among
people in the 15-to-24 age range and 150 percent among those 45 to 54 years
of age. Hospitalizations were highest among males.

- - Opioid-related death rates were highest for people 35 to 44 years old,
increasing 164 percent between 1990 and 1998 and another 18 percent between
1999 and 2000.

Koh said that the report was compiled because "people around the
commonwealth came to us and stressed how alarmed they were about what was
happening in their communities."

"This is an enormous societal challenge," Koh said.