NASHUA POLICE BATTLE BAD HEROIN BATCH

NASHUA -- Anyone thinking of trying heroin for the first time should
realize it could be the last thing they ever do, Nashua police said
yesterday after a recent death and a string of overdoses.

Since the third week of March, a "bad batch" of the drug killed one man and
caused eight known overdoses in the city, said Lt. Bruce Hansen during a
press conference at the Nashua Police Department. The man, whose name and
age were not released, died in early April after being hospitalized for a week.

"The whole purpose is not to talk to the hardcore user, but it's the people
who try to do it for the first time at the insistence of a peer or friend,"
said Hansen.

He said police are not releasing the man's name or age because of "medical
privacy matters." Detectives continue to investigate the case.

Packets of the drug police got are embossed with "It's Hot" and a picture
of a devil and "Mo Money" and a pile of cash. The drug with the "It's Hot"
emblem seems to be the most dangerous, Hansen said.

Police do not know whether the purity of the drug or additives are
responsible for the incidents, which included three overdoses in the past
weekend.

Police are confident the drug is coming from the Lowell/Lawrence, Mass.,
area in plentiful supply and at a bargain price. In Nashua a bag of heroin
sells for about $15, but drops to just $4 a bag in Lowell, Hansen said.

"For a 15-minute ride, it's Economics 101 . . . you are going to go south,"
he said.

Those who overdosed included men and women ranging in age from 19 to 35
years old, Hansen said. Most appeared not to be from Nashua, but visiting
the area.

"We try to talk to the people who are treated as much as we can, and they
tell us where they got it (the heroin)," Hansen said.

It's likely that more overdoses have occurred, but the users often remove
drug-related evidence from the scene, Hansen said.

Demand for heroin increased dramatically in the late 1990s, and it is now
the second biggest problem drug in the country, behind cocaine, Hansen
said. As its popularity climbs, heroin's purity levels have also increased
from about 30 percent to upwards of 80 percent, Hansen said.

"Traditionally, older heroin that was less pure was injected, that's a more
efficient way to get into your bloodstream . . . but when it's more pure,
upwards of 80 percent as some of this stuff, you can inhale it, you can
snort it, you can eat it and it will get into your system; so you do away
with the stigma of a dirty needle," Hansen said.

The narcotics detective said he hopes the message of refusing to ever try
heroin reaches the people who need to hear it the most and heroin's
tightening grip on the city will relax.