Return of the Plague

Just a year ago, federal authorities had reason to believe that the lethal heroin traffic was at last slowing. Deaths related to heroin had fallen significantly in 1973. Prices on the average were up --a sure sign of scarcity--and on the East Coast particularly "white" heroin made from the Turkish opium poppy was in short supply. Government officials were confident that the number of users was declining nationwide.

That optimism withered during 1974. Recently Dr. Robert DuPont, director of the President's Drug Abuse Prevention Office, said, "We're sure heroin use has gone up. Just how much we don't know, but it is getting worse." The prospect for 1975, he said, is "ominous." One measure is the number of heroin-related deaths. Between 1971 and 1973, that figure fell from 1,726 to 1,017. For the first half of 1974 alone, the death toll was 691. Applicants at treatment centers are also increasing. From July to September of last year, hospitals reported a 66% rise in overdose cases compared with the same period the previous year.

In the past, heroin was concentrated in the nation's largest cities. Now arrests, evidence of addiction and heroin-related crime are showing up more often in smaller cities. As examples, DuPont mentioned rising addiction in Des Moines, Eugene, Ore., and Jackson, Miss.

New Crop. The downtrend of 1973 was a result of Turkey's ban on the cultivation of the opium-poppy plant, which had been the source of 80% of the heroin in the U.S. But last July Turkey lifted the prohibition. Growers planted a new crop this fall for harvest next June.

European heroin dealers, who had stockpiled their remaining stashes of Turkish heroin in view of the shortage, released their goods in anticipation of renewed supplies from the coming harvest. Despite Turkish pledges to control processing of the new crop, U.S. drug enforcers predicted a serious increase in available heroin on American streets.

To replace the Turkish supplies, Mexican "brown" heroin--a cruder, more cheaply produced variety--was put under extensive cultivation two years ago. Mexican officials have tried to stamp out the traffic, even using soldiers and helicopters to search out illicit crops. Nevertheless, John Bartels Jr., head of the Justice Department's Drug Enforcement Administration, says that Mexican heroin has become "our No. 1 target."

The financial and human cost of the heroin plague is horrendous. In fiscal 1973, according to Bartels' estimate, heroin addicts required $5.6 billion to support their habit. More than half of that, authorities believe, comes from crime. If DuPont is correct when he says that "we can no longer talk about turning the corner on heroin anywhere," crime is likely to increase.

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