Paraphernalia, Inc.

In the argot of the drug world, it is "paraphernalia": the necessary accouterments to merchandising heroin. The small glassine envelopes, or "bags," used to package heroin are paraphernalia. So, too, are the legal, harmless powders used to dilute the drug, usually quinine, dextrose, lactose or mannite. According to a House Select Committee on Crime investigation in New York City, peddling paraphernalia has grown into a $5,000,000-a-year business.

One outlet, the Harlem Stationery Co., sold 52,000,000 glassine bags in 1969 alone, accounting for nearly 20% of the store's $500,000 sales. A Harlem drugstore, the Co-Op Pharmacy, peddled 47 million bags over a two-year period for an estimated $ 100,000 profit. There are, of course, other users of the envelopes, such as watch repairmen and stamp collectors, but the committee concluded that most bags sold in Harlem were used to package heroin.

The Co-Op Pharmacy also sold 40,000 ounces of quinine, worth $60,000, in the same two-year period. Estimated revenues from the sales were between $1,000,000 and $1,400,000. The committee was told that regular sales of quinine and the other heroin additives would only total a few hundred thousand dollars a year for all of New York City.

Last week a 14-year-old Harlem youth died from an overdose of heroin. He was the 102nd teen-ager to die from drug-related causes so far this year in New York City; 322 adults have also been killed by drugs in the same period. To slow one aspect of this lethal trade the committee members are studying the possibility of new legislation to control the sale of paraphernalia, including quota systems for the sale of heroin additives. In an attempt to help, the United States Envelope Co. of Springfield, Mass., which manufactures glassine envelopes, last week announced that it will sharply limit production and distribution of its bag-sized envelopes.

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