Bad heroin suspected in overdose deaths

fort wayne gazette ^ | 02/08/06

[hoosierboy]

PORTAGE – After the recent overdose death of a 22-year-old man, Porter County police are investigating whether a tainted batch of heroin blamed for a dozen deaths in Chicago has leaked into northwest Indiana.

Shawn Polewski was found dead from a heroin overdose at a Portage home Saturday. He was a 2002 Portage High School graduate and an Ivy Tech College student. Polewski’s death marked the second overdose death in Porter County blamed on heroin in the past week. Meaghan Green, 19, of Chesterton, was found dead at her home Jan. 30.

Robert Taylor, coordinator of the Porter County narcotics unit, said he had ordered laboratory tests to determine whether the deaths were connected with a batch of heroin that has killed 12 people in Chicago in the past three weeks.

Authorities suspect the contaminated heroin was cut with a painkiller prescribed for cancer patients. Investigators said death comes within minutes to those who used the tainted narcotic.

[hoosierboy]

Bad heroin? As opposed to good heroin???

[Tijeras_Slim]

It's getting so you can't even trust your pusher.

[CWOJackson]

"Investigators said death comes within minutes to those who used the tainted narcotic."

Cool!

[Xenophobic Alien]

Best line of the day

[RolandBurnam]

I hope someone thinks its "cool" when you make a mistake and die from it.

[CWOJackson]

Good thing for me I don't do drugs. Cool!

[dynachrome]

My pusher only uses organic ingredients, so I know it's safe.

[Slicksadick]

Bad heroin? As opposed to good heroin???

Funny you should put it that way, often times heroin overdoses are caused by the product being cut incorrectly, sometimes not enough. So in effect, it can be so good it kills you.

[Billthedrill]

That is precisely correct. In my Navy days we used to lose a handful of sailors every time the battle group hit Hong Kong or Thailand - the heroin there isn't cut as it is before it hits the streets in the states. Way, way too strong, and they'd die of pulmonary edema in their racks. Not what you want to find next to you in the morning.

[RolandBurnam]

don't worry, we all find our way out, drugs or not. cool?

[DBrow]

The "contaminate" is a synthetic opiate called fentanyl. It's almost 100 times more potent than morpheine, doses run in the hundreds of micrograms.

A tiny mistake in processing can lead to problems.

So the dope is adulterated with a stronger narcotic, probably because the supply of real heroin is down and they could steal fentanyl.

The concept of "tainted" heroin is a riot. It's tainted even when it's heroin.

[CWOJackson]

LOL! Yep, most people do but most people's mistakes are very minor compared to the mistakes drug users make...and a lot less fatal.

Way Cool!

[theDentist]

I feel sorry for his immediate family, but not for him.

[GSlob]

In the late 80s in Pittsburgh there was a similar string of overdose deaths - a PSG(?) chemist made a batch of methylfentanyl [several thousand times more active stuff than heroin], and "cutting" it presented obvious problems down the chain - small mechanically ground speck was more than enough to cause the overdose. About 15-20 deaths had resulted before they traced the guy.

[Firefigher NC]

I'll take a 6 pack of beer over narcotics any day of the week.

[CWOJackson]

Not many quality control problems there either.

[Mark was here]

There ought to be a law against dieing while on heroin.

[AmericanChef]

Activists will now be "pushing" for good heroin to go along with the clean needles so these folks can abuse themselves and society "safely".

[R.W.Ratikal]

All herion is bad when used as a "recreational" drug. It is also a crime since the user had to buy the drug from a drug dealer.

The way to win the war on drugs is to set heavy fines and jail periods on users. For example: A first time user of drugs should be fined $1000.00 and 30 days in jail. A second time conviction should carry a $100.00 fine and 60 days in jail and have his driver's license revoked for one year.. A third time offender should be hit with a $10,00 fine and a year in jail together with the permanent loss pf their driver's license. Convicted drug users should have their names and pictures published in the newspaper.

If the user plea bargains and fingers the dealer who sold him the dope and testifies against the dealer, then the sentense should be cut in half.

Believe me, the use of "recreational" drugs would quickly lose its charm.

When demand dries up, supply goes elsewhere.

[sgtbono2002]

We had a lot of overdoses in Washington DC a few years back , It turned out the heroin was of such good quality they couldnt handle it. Half the city was dying from it and the other half was trying to find a way to purchase it saying they could cut it themselves.

One guy was shooting up while driving his car and back eneded the car ahead of him before he passed out. We found him with the needle still stuck in his arm.