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BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS HEALTH AGENCY SAYS DRUG DEATHS RISE 76 PERCENT
MASSACHUSETTS: Deaths from heroin and other narcotics in Boston, Massachusetts 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 in Massachusetts.
''We fear but expect that drug-related deaths in Massachusetts will dramatically increase in 2003, and we're already seeing some indication of that,'' said John M. Auerbach, executive director of the Boston Massachusetts 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 in Massachusetts. Also, more women died in 2001, with 21 deaths that year, compared to 15 in 1998 in Massachusetts.
Massachusetts 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, Massachusetts. 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 in Massachusetts. 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.''
MASSACHUSETTS: Deaths from heroin and other narcotics in Boston, Massachusetts 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 in Massachusetts.
''We fear but expect that drug-related deaths in Massachusetts will dramatically increase in 2003, and we're already seeing some indication of that,'' said John M. Auerbach, executive director of the Boston Massachusetts 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 in Massachusetts. Also, more women died in 2001, with 21 deaths that year, compared to 15 in 1998 in Massachusetts.
Massachusetts 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, Massachusetts. 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 in Massachusetts. 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.''
