American Notes

What seemed like ordinary bags of heroin hit the bazaars of the South Bronx early this month. Dubbed "Tango & Cash," the product sold for $10 a bag. By the end of last week, the drug had killed six people in New York, seven in New Jersey and two in Connecticut; 213 overdosed addicts wound up in emergency rooms. Preliminary tests indicate that the drug is fentanyl, a tranquilizer described as "150 to 6,000 times more potent than morphine."

Police took extraordinary steps to warn addicts, cruising blighted neighborhoods in squad cars. "If you have used this drug," they announced over their loudspeakers, "seek medical attention immediately!" Ironically, these efforts may have led addicts to crave it all the more. "Hard-core users ask how they could get hold of it. They figure those who died made a mistake," says Christopher Policano, a spokesman at Phoenix House, a drug rehabilitation center.