M ay 26. 2010
®(t JJnrtlanh (Observer
Page 19
Deadly, Ultra-Pure Heroin Arrives
Unsuspecting users risk instant death
(A P) — M exican drug sm ugglers
are increasingly peddling a form o f
ultra-potent heroin that sells for as
little as $ 10 a bag and is so pure it can
kill unsuspecting users instantly,
som etim es before they even rem ove
the syringe from their veins.
A n A ssociated Press review o f
drug overdose data show s that so-
called "black tar" heroin — nam ed
for its dark, g o oey co nsistency —
and o th er form s o f the drug are
contributing to a spike in overdose
deaths across the nation and a t­
tracting a new g eneration o f users
w ho are caught o f f guard by its
p o te n cy .
A uthorities are concerned that
the potency and price o f the heroin
from M exico and C olom bia could
w iden the drug's appeal, ju s t as crack
did for cocaine d ecades ago.
The Latin A m erican heroin com es
in the form o f black tar o r brow n
pow der, and it has proven esp e­
cially p o p u lar in rural and suburban
areas.
O riginally associated w ith rock
stars, hippies and inner-city ju n k ­
ies, heroin in the 1970s w as usually
sm uggled from A sia and the M iddle
E ast and w as around 5 percent pure.
The rest w as "filler" such as sugar,
starch, pow dered m ilk, even brick
dust. T he low po ten cy m eant that
m any users injected the drug to
m axim ize the effect.
B u tin recent years, M exican drug
dealers have im proved the w ay they
process poppies, the brightly co l­
ored flow ers supplied by drug farm ­
ers that provide the raw ingredients
fo r heroin, op iu m and painkillers
such as m orphine. Purity levels have
increased, and prices have fallen.
Federal ag en ts now com m only
find heroin that is 50 p ercent pure
and so m etim es as m uch as 80 p er­
cent pure.
T he g reater p o ten cy allow s m ore
heroin users to snort the drug or
sm oke it and still achieve a sus­
tained high — an attractive altern a­
tive for teenagers and suburbanites
w ho don't w an t the H IV risk o r the
track m arks on their arm s that com e
w ith repeated injections.
In O regon, state M edical E x am ­
iner K aren G unson said the heroin
problem is w o rst in co m m unities
along Interstate 5. T he state had 131
h eroin-related o v erd o se deaths last
y e ar — . 42 m ore than three years
earlier.
T he dead sim ply didn't know the
risks o f the heroin they used, she
said.
"W e're seeing it som etim es 80
p e r c e n t p u r e ," G u n s o n s a id .
"T here's no FD A approval on this
Sue Tayon poses for a photo in her home holding an urn contain­
ing her daughter Nikki Tayon's ashes in Overland, Mo. Tayon's
28-year-old daughter, Nikki, died o f an overdose on heroin that
was 90 percent pure, her mother said. (AP Photo)
stuff. I f you're using it ev ery day,
y o u r chances grow and grow that
it's going to kill you."
A m ong the drug's casualties w as
W illiam H enderson, a 29-year-old
w elder from ru ra|M issouri w ho died
in his sleep in 2009, hours after snort­
ing heroin. A bear o f a m an at 6-foot-
1 and 300 pounds, he had tried the
drug only a few tim es.
H is w ife recalled w aking up to
fin d th e a la r m b u z z in g . H e r
husband's body had turned blue,
and his stom ach w as cold to the
touch.
A n in creasin g am o u n t o f the
deadliest heroin appears to be co m ­
ing from M exico. A lthough the vast
m ajority still arrives from overseas,
M exican dealers appear to be chip­
ping aw ay at the U.S. m arket.
A s recently as tw o years ago,
state and federal drug agents saw
heroin arriving from Colom bia, Asia
and M exico. But as the availability
and quality o f cocaine and m etham ­
phetam ine have declined, M exican
sm ugglers have stepped up heroin
shipm ents to the U.S.
Independent M exican sm ugglers
have the m arket largely to them ­
selves because the m ajor drug car­
tels only dabble in heroin, prefer­
ring to focus on locally grow n m ari­
ju an a and C olom bian cocaine, ac­
cording to a D EA official in El Paso,
Texas. T he agent spoke on the co n ­
dition o f anonym ity, citing security
concerns and his on g o in g role in
active drug investigations.
H eroin m etabolizes in the body
so quickly that m edical exam iners
often cannot pinpoint the drug as a
cause o f death unless there is other
evidence to back it up — say, a
needle or a syringe found n ear the
body. A lso, m any victim s use m u l­
tiple drugs and alcohol, so citing a
specific substance is often im pos­
sible.
At the start o f the decade, roughly
2,000 people a year died from heroin
o verdoses n ationw ide, acco rd in g
to records kept by the C enters for
D isease C ontrol. By 2008, the drug
w as blam ed for at least 3,000 deaths
in the 36 states that responded to
re c o rd s re q u e s ts fro m th e A P.
D eaths from 2009 have not yet been
compiled.
The AP contacted agencies in all
50 states, as well as officials in the
District o f C olum bia and N ew York
City, including m edical exam iners,
coroners and health departm ents. The
survey show ed that heroin deaths
rose 18.2 percent from 2007 to 2008,
and 20.3 percent from 2006 to 2008.
Law enfo rcem en t o fficials and
drug-treatm ent experts believe those
statistics w o efu lly u n d erco unt the
actual num ber o f deaths.
To hook new users, d ealers are
selling heroin c h e a p — often around
$ 10 a bag.
MM
The African American Men’s Club, Inc.
(A A M C )
Presents an
OLD SCHOOL PARTY
60’s & 70’s - Oldies but Goodies
Saturday, June 26,2010
Billy Webb Elk’s Lodge
6 North Tillamook St., Portland, Oregon
9 P M - 1AM
Donation: $15.00 per person
Music by: DJ Papa Chuck
Best Dressed from the 60’s & 70’s Wins: $50.00
TriMet Makes Safety Changes
Line 6 won’t
jump 4 lanes
and then m erged to the right over four
lanes in ju st under 400 feet.
T riM et requested that the city o f
Portland change striping at the sig ­
A s part o f ongoing efforts to im ­ nalized intersection at G rand. This
prove the safety o f bus operations, change m eans that buses will no
TriM et is changing the w ay the Line longer use the slip lane and instead
6-M artin Luther King Jr. Blvd. bus turn left at the intersection and turn
com es o ff the Hawthorne Bridge onto directly into the far right travel lane.
Southeast G rand A venue, as well as T h is e lim in a te s m u ltip le la n e
m aking changes to all courtesy stop/ changes in that busy area.
night stop procedures.
T riM et is also m aking changes to
Currently, vehicles traveling east- its courtesy stop/N ight Stop p ro ce­
bound over the H aw thorne Bridge dures reg ard in g the distance re­
use a slip lane to veer left onto G rand quired betw een a non-designated
before the signalized intersection at stop and an upcom ing left turn. A
Grand. Line 6 buses used the slip lane courtesy stop/N ight Stop is w hen
MOTHER DEAR’S
Raffle & 50/50 Split: Tickets - $ 1.00 each
Menu: Roast Beef, Chicken, Green Beans,
Salad & Dinner Rolls
‘ Tickets Available at:
AAMC Club Members
Cynthia Livingston (503)504-0640
Cannon’s Rib Express (503) 288-3836
One Stop Records (503) 285-1159
Geneva’s Shear Perfection (503) 285-1159
James & Johnnie Mayfield-Vancouver (360) 576-8519
Proceeds to benefit the AA MC Scholarship Program
The African American M en’s Club is a non-profit organization
an operator lets a rider d eb o ard at a
safe location that is not at a desig­
nated stop.
TriM et will begin im plem enting a
change to its p rocedures that w ill
not allow the non -d esig n ated stop
in the block in w hich a bus m akes a
left hand turn. In areas w ith o u t stan­
dard city blocks, a m inim um o f 100
feet betw een the stop and the inter­
section is required for each lane
change proceeding the left turn.
The changes are in ad d itio n to a
com prehensive safety review that
w as ordered after a T riM et bus tu rn ­
ing left hit five pedestrians at a dow n­
tow n intersection, killing tw o people.
AT
H IG H L A N D
O rd e rs T ak en
M ay 10 - J u n e 13
O rd e rT o d a y !
c a ll
5 0 3 .2 8 7 .9 5 6 7
SUPPORT THE OREGON FOOD BANK AT HIGHLAND
(A Program for families & their children)