HEROIN EPIDEMIC FADES: - DRUG'S DEATH TOLL IN COUNTY DOWN 60% SINCE 1998

Drug enforcement experts are hoping that the death of singer Layne
Staley might one day be remembered as the closing chapter on this
region's 20-year love affair with heroin.

The latest statistics show a staggering drop in the number of heroin-
related deaths in King County since the epidemic reached a peak in
1998. The number of deaths caused by cocaine and other drugs also has
declined.

Last year, 61 people died from heroin in the county, according to
statistics compiled by the Northwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking
Area, an amalgam of drug-fighting authorities. That is a drop of 40
percent from 2000 and almost 60 percent from four years ago -- when
143 King County residents died from the drug.

Steady increases in heroin use in the 1980s were given a boost in the
1990s by the popularity and mystique surrounding such grunge
musicians as Kurt Cobain, of Seattle, and Staley, who was raised in
Kirkland.

Although medical examiners will not know for several weeks what
caused Staley's death, many suspect it was caused by his
well-publicized and longstanding heroin addiction. Police believe the
34-year-old Alice in Chains singer and guitarist may have lain dead
in his University District condominium for as long as two weeks
before his body was discovered April 19.

As the grunge scene died away during recent years, it seems that so,
too, has the allure of heroin.

The statistics don't necessarily indicate a permanent drop in heroin
use, said Steve Freng, the prevention treatment manager for the drug
trafficking area. But the figures are encouraging.

``This week it has been the hottest topic of conversation. Everyone
has been surprised by it,'' Freng said. ``We are very encouraged.''

The total number of drug-related deaths in King County has dropped by
more than 30 percent since 1998. Last year 153 people died from drug
overdoses, compared with 222 people three years earlier.

The number of heroin-related visits to hospital emergency rooms
stayed steady at more than 2,400 each year until 2000. But in the
first six months of last year, the most recent figures available, the
number of visits dropped off by more than 25 percent.

Freng said that a relaxation in the rules surrounding methadone
treatment programs has allowed more addicts to seek help. For that he
credits the work of King County Executive Ron Sims and state
legislators.

Methadone treatment remains controversial, with critics arguing that
it replaces one drug with another and amounts to state-sanctioned
addiction. But Freng believes that with proper treatment and a
gradual reduction in dosage, methadone patients can live productive
lives.

The latest statistics could indicate factors other than just
declining heroin usage, Freng cautions. Steady suppliers, for
instance, could result in fewer accidents caused by sudden spikes in
heroin purity. Such spikes can kill regular users who get an
unexpectedly high dose of the drug.

King County has long had one of the worst heroin problems in North
America. In 1999, it rose to third in the nation in heroin use and
overdoses per capita.

Almost all heroin in this area is of the ``black tar'' variety. It is
transported over the Mexican border and up Interstate 5, Freng said.
To feed the habit costs the average addict $100 or more each day, or,
as some describe it, a felony a day.

The trendier and more pure ``China white'' heroin usually comes from
Asia and is limited to Vancouver, British Columbia, and eastern parts
of the United States, according to Freng. He believes that could be
the result of international smuggling cartels using the border as
their own territorial boundary.

On the Eastside, the heroin problem may have decreased a little, said
Bruce Vestal, a Bellevue police captain who heads the Eastside
Narcotics Task Force. The drug is still available for buyers,
although usually in small amounts, he said.

Shoplifting in Bellevue Square and a couple of overdose deaths each
year on the Eastside are a reminder that the drug is here, he said.
But more alarming than heroin is the continuing rise in popularity of
Ecstasy and methamphetamine.

Staley's death is not thought to have involved either of those drugs.

His family last week asked that people wanting to make donations in
Staley's name give the money to the Eastside Recovery Center in
Bellevue.

The recovery center has received a couple of donations to date,
including one from a Californian high school student, said Executive
Director Carol Hoeft. The center treats 225 outpatient alcoholics and
drug addicts each month, Hoeft said, and is the only nonprofit of its
kind on the Eastside.

Therapy involves intensive counseling and 12-step recovery and
support, said Ken Nicholas, the treatment supervisor.

``People really have to change their lifestyle from addiction, and
trying to do that is extremely hard,'' he said.

Staley's family members, who still live on the Eastside, know staff
at the center well, even though Staley was never a patient there.
They have asked that the media respect their privacy following
Staley's death.

Staley was raised in Kirkland with two sisters in a middle-class
environment. At age 5, he joined a preschool rhythm group that met
once a week, according to a 1996 Rolling Stone article. When Staley
was 7, his parents divorced and his mother remarried, adding a
stepbrother to the family.

At age 12, Staley began playing drums. He switched to vocals during
high school. He met future Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell
at a party in 1987.

``When I tried drugs, they were f-great, and they worked for me for
years, and now they're turning against me -- and now I'm walking
through hell, and this sucks,'' Staley told Rolling Stone.

``I'm scared of death, especially death by my own hand,'' Staley
said. ``I'm scared of where I would go. Not that I ever consider
that, because I don't.''