BOSTON HEALTH AGENCY SAYS DRUG DEATHS RISE 76 PERCENT

Deaths from heroin and other narcotics in Boston rose by 76 percent from
1998 to 2001 because of an influx of cheaper and deadlier heroin, according
to the city's annual health report, which is being released today.

Public health officials say the disturbing trend is continuing, as budget
cuts eliminate substance-abuse treatment options.

''We fear but expect that drug-related deaths will dramatically increase in
2003, and we're already seeing some indication of that,'' said John M.
Auerbach, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission.

The commission reported that 88 people, a large majority of them white men,
died from drug overdoses or drug-related suicides in 2001, compared to 50 in
1998. Also, more women died in 2001, with 21 deaths that year, compared to
15 in 1998.

Officials say the rise in drug-related deaths is driven by cheap heroin
pouring into New England in the 1990s. With heroin as cheap as $4 a bag and
as much as 90 percent pure, users get addicted more quickly and overdose
more frequently.

''It's less expensive than a pack of cigarettes,'' said Ronnie Springer of
Bay Cove Human Services, a drug treatment provider in Boston. Heroin users
are getting younger, Springer says. Though typically turned off by the
stigma of heroin addicts shooting up in alleys, the new users are more
likely to snort the drug.

''We have a clear indication that we have a heroin epidemic in the state of
Massachusetts, including Boston,'' said Deborah Klein Walker, assistant
commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Despite the increase in heroin availability, substance-abuse programs have
faced cuts. The Legislature cut the budget for the state Bureau of Substance
Abuse Services to $37 million in the 2003 budget from $42 million in fiscal
2002, according to the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Corporations of
Massachusetts.

As a result, the number of detox beds dropped from 997 last year to 420 beds
statewide today.

Auerbach said that readily available drug treatment prevents death among
heroin addicts. ''There's a small window when someone who's using drugs will
say, `OK, I'll try today to quit,' '' he said. ''It's very important that
when they have that insight, that day there's something available for them.
They don't come back next week.''

Drug-related deaths are rising across Massachusetts, but Boston is one of
four primary heroin markets in the United States, along with Chicago, New
York, and Los Angeles, according to the National Drug Intelligence Center.
According to the Boston Public Health Commission, in 1999 the most
drug-related deaths occurred in South Boston and the South End, with about
40 deaths per 100,000 people. The Fenway and Allston-Brighton also ranked
high, with 35 and 24 deaths per 100,000 people, respectively.

But it is a citywide issue, says William J. Haplin of South Boston Community
Health Center.

''I do know from talking to my colleagues in other parts of the city, it's
pretty much across the board,'' he said.

With fewer beds and more heroin users, Springer and colleagues fear for the
coming winter.

''I feel like we've lost all of the gains we made in the last 20 years, just
wiped out in a year,'' Springer said. ''I've been in the field for 30 years
and never seen anything like this. People don't understand how difficult it
is to be on the phone every day and tell people we don't have a bed.''