The Region : Drug Death Rise Laid to Potent Heroin

A more potent but less familiar type of heroin on the market in California is being blamed for an increase in the number of overdose deaths in Los Angeles and San Diego counties. Heroin overdose deaths in Los Angeles County in 1985 totaled 204, up from 146 in 1984 and 71 in 1983, according to statistics released by the coroner’s office. The San Diego County Department of Health Services earlier reported 56 heroin-caused deaths in 1985, up from 15 in 1981. Authorities blame the dramatic increases on a new kind of heroin called “black tar.� Addicts simply do not realize it is so much more potent than the white powder they have been used to, they said.