Heroin boom takes in suburbs, small towns

DEA officials say they now commonly find heroin that is 90 percent pure

Drug's cleaner image pushes its popularity

Part one of a two-part series

In this story: Heroin in Vermont Cheaper, purer, easier to get Heroin's new glamour Deaths on the rise RELATED STORIES, SITES

By Pierre Thomas
CNN Justice Correspondent

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Four years ago, Kathryn Logan was 15 and a straight-A student at a suburban high school.

Now, at 19, she's at a California treatment center trying to piece together a life shattered by drugs, especially heroin.

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A special report from CNN's Pierre Thomas, originally aired on 'The World Today' on Thursday Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

"I've totaled cars, I've lived on the streets, I've gone through some things in my life that I never thought I'd go through," she says.

Heroin, an insidious drug long associated with the inner city, began spreading to the suburbs and towns in the last decade and has been claiming more and more victims like Kathryn Logan.

Heroin abuse soared in the 1990s -- although studies show it may have leveled off or declined in the last two years.

According to one government estimate, the number of hard-core heroin users jumped from 630,000 in 1992 to 980,000 in 1998.

The number of heroin and morphine-related hospital emergency cases increased from 48,000 in 1992 to 84,000 in 1999

Especially alarming is the fact that the average age of first-time heroin users has dropped, from 21 in 1994 to 17 in 1997.

Logan and other teen-age heroin addicts warned Congress about the threat last spring.

"I made life a nightmare for my family," she said.

"I overdosed at least seven times," said another addict, Philip.

"I felt like I was slave to the addiction," said Michael.

All three were examples of how heroin is reaching places you might not expect it to reach, such as Burlington, Vermont.

"Basically all of our drug work now is heroin," says Lt. Emmit Helrich of the Burlington Police Department. "I don't know if it's sneaking up on people, but I know that the parents who come to us with their children are just totally shocked to find out that their child is using heroin."

"We want to just alert people that it's just as serious in suburbia for younger people as it is for older people in urban areas of America," said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.

Drug lords from Southeast Asia, Mexico and, increasingly, Colombia have made heroin more readily available, as well as cheaper and more potent, than ever.

According to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, in 1980 a milligram of heroin typically sold for $3.80 and was about 3.6 percent pure.

By 1998, the price of a milligram of heroin had fallen to just 96 cents -- and was more than 41 percent pure.

DEA officials say they now commonly find heroin that is 90 percent pure.

The high purity is changing the way heroin is consumed. It's so pure it can be snorted or smoked----rather than injected. And that, the DEA says, is removing the stigma of heroin use and causing more people to try the drug.

"Years ago, and traditionally, a heroin addict was always looked down upon," says DEA Operations Chief Richard Fiano. "You looked at the track marks of heroin addicts. They would shoot it in their arms, they would shoot it in their inner thighs, they would shoot it under the tongue. There would be ulcerated sores on their arms, on their legs, and they'd be laying out in the street."

Now, he says, "I think it's becoming an acceptable drug. It's becoming a glamorous drug, and I don't think they know the downfalls and pitfalls of utilizing heroin."

The number of heroin and morphine-related hospital emergency cases has exploded -- going from 48,000 in 1992 to 84,000 in 1999 -- and, in some places, heroin-related deaths are on the rise.

Oregon, which had 59 heroin deaths in 1990, recorded 195 in 1999. The vacation city of Orlando, Florida, had 18 heroin deaths in 1995 but 50 last year.

Logan is not surprised.

"The fact is, that it is everywhere," she says. "It's in the smallest town. It's in the biggest town. There's nowhere to really hide."

In part two of this series: CNN Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas looks at Baltimore, Maryland, which has one of the most serious drug problems in the United States.

Heroin deaths rise throughout U.S., surge in Northwest
July 20, 2000
Public health officials alarmed by heroin's resurgence
July 22, 1998

DEA

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