The federal government has joined the state of Pennsylvania in the battle against the spread of a deadly new batch of heroin that reportedly claimed 22 lives in less than two weeks. The batch is also responsible for a series of nonfatal overdose cases in Pittsburgh.
According to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, there were three patients who voluntarily admitted themselves into the Gateway Rehabilitation Center over the weekend. The patients said that they are becoming scared for their lives after shooting up using the deadly batch of heroin.
Neil A. Carpetto, Gateway's medical director, said that these patients shared similar stories of how the dealers warned them to use the drug carefully because of its strong effect.
The heroin, also known as H, smack, horse, brown, and other names, is a form of analgesic developed in 1874 by combining two ingredients also found in opium. While it is an active drug, it can also be used as morphine to treat severe pain. Most of the illegal heroins, about 87 percent, were from Afghanistan. Second supplier is Mexico which has increased its production by 600 percent in just four years.
Authorities have collaborated in tracking down the source of the deadly batch of heroin that is believed to be laced with the potent painkiller known as fentanyl. Street level detectives are trying to ferret out the dealers of the bad heroin. Undercover agents have also been asked to reach out to informants to help the case
Detective Tony Marcocci, an investigator from the Westmoreland County district attorney's office, said to Post-Gazette, "One of the things that we've tried to do is raise the public awareness about this. There is a killer out there, and we want to try to stop people from using it. We are going after the addicts. They can very well supply it to another addict. But ultimately our goal is to go after the source -- the actual dealers -- whether they be in our county or another county."
