Traverse City Record-Eagle

Grand Traverse County

March 30, 2009

Area police probing drug cases

East Bay woman allegedly tried to inject morphine

BY LINDSAY VANHULLE

TRAVERSE CITY -- An East Bay Township woman found herself in legal trouble after allegedly trying to inject herself with morphine, the latest in a string of incidents involving prescription drugs.

The woman, 22, was arrested shortly before 10:30 p.m. Friday after city police allegedly found her with morphine tablets and syringes in a friend's bathroom on Lincoln Street in Traverse City.

Her name has not been released pending arraignment.

She had visited with three friends at the home before allegedly entering the bathroom and locking the door, Traverse City Police Capt. Steve Morgan said. Thinking she planned to use heroin, they called police, who responded with paramedics.

None of the others had drugs in their possession, Morgan said.

When officers opened the locked door, he said, the woman allegedly was trying to inject herself with liquid morphine from tablets she had melted.

The woman didn't have a prescription, Morgan said, and purchased the drug on the street. Police believe she bought it in the area, but said they haven't identified a dealer.

Morgan said he didn't think she had injected any of the painkiller into her system before authorities arrived.

The news comes on the heels of three apparent overdose deaths in Traverse City since early February. All involved methadone, another prescription drug.

Detectives have placed the cases on "high priority" in an attempt to arrest the distributors, Morgan said. It is unknown if they are connected.

"As we grow, the problem of illegal drugs grows right along with us," he said. "Unfortunately, we see more and more of the harder-type drugs."

Morphine is a potent painkiller, typically injected as liquid when hospitalized, said Dr. Richard Entz, medical director of the Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center at Munson Medical Center.

It can be purchased from a pharmacist in pill form, but only with a written prescription and only in one month's supply.

The drug comes in two forms -- a smaller dose of 15-30 milligrams intended for rapid relief, and a second, stronger dose meant to span 10-12 hours, Entz said.

He added that the latter can range from 60 to 200 milligrams, and constitutes much of what is bought on the street.

Addiction can develop in a matter of weeks.

"As your tolerance develops, the dose that you need to take to get high becomes closer and closer to the (lethal) dose," Entz said.

An investigation is ongoing.

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