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[Definitie:] "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance."
(Wilmore and Costill) 
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0 3 - 1 1 - 2 0 0 5 Street heroin sickens 4 people
Thursday, November 03, 2005 HOLYOKE - Four people were treated for drug poisoning after injecting or snorting heroin ladened with a steroid used to treat respiratory ailments in horses, a Holyoke Medical Center doctor said yesterday. Contained in a package labeled "Black Rain," the heroin was mixed with Clenbuterol, which causes excess heart palpitations, a loss of blood supply to the heart, and other symptoms that could lead to a heart attack or death, said Dr. Paul A. Gerstein, attending emergency room physician at the hospital. "This is a potentially lethal drug masquerading as heroin," Gerstein said. "Whatever a hospital emergency room sees is usually a fraction of the true number of cases in the community." Holyoke Police Chief Anthony Scott said that the city's narcotics detectives were investigating the source of the contaminated heroin, which is an illegal drug. The first reports of poisonings associated with similar heroin packets stamped Black Rain were reported in New Jersey, Scott said in a press release. "Our detectives are continuing to work on this investigation and are in contact with New Jersey law enforcement officials and surrounding law enforcement agencies," Scott said. Scott did not return telephone calls to his office yesterday. Gerstein said the drug was almost pure Clenbuterol with only traces of heroin. "None of the patients were very high but were agitated and anxious with very high heart rates. All but one had signs of poor blood supply to the heart. This is very serious," Gerstein said. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said in August that there were 26 cases of Clenbuterol use in heroin in 2005. The drug was found in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and North and South Carolina. The drug is not approved for human use in the United States. However, it is widely sold illegally to athletes and body builders as a muscle enhancer and a weight-loss drug. Gerstein said he was uncertain whether the victims - three young men and an older woman - had ties to the same drug source. Capt. William C. Cochrane, of the Springfield Narcotics Division, said they had heard no word of the contaminated heroin, nor had narcotics officers seen evidence of it on the streets. |
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