Death, drugs and homicide?
Yesterday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, Robert Carroll Eichelberger was sentenced to 20 years in prison for distributing medthadone that killed 17-year-old Harry L. "Trey" Angle in Western Maryland. It was only the second time federal prosecutors have filed to hold a drug dealer accountable for what happens to their customers.
It's an innovative approach and one that authorities in Maryland are looking into more and more. The problem is that police have to make a definitive link between the drugs and the person who used them -- in other words, prove that drug dealer A sold the heroin to addict B and that the addict did indeed die from those very same drugs. Prosecutors could go for manslaughter, which would require them to prove the dealer knew or should have known that his product could kill. But they'd still have to link the drugs to the victim.
Try that in Baltimore where addicts form lines that can rival those at stores on Black Friday.
Eichelberger's case reminded me of a recent visit I had with Dr. David Fowler, Maryland's chief medical examiner, and why his office lists so many overdose deaths as pending. Critics charge that he is hiding murders behind the classification to keep the city's body count low (or, at least, lower).
Fowler says that his office is one of only a handful in the U.S. that classifies most overdose deaths as pending instead of accidental. The reason, he told me, is that he doesn't know what really caused the death: it could be accidental; it could be suicide; it could even be a homicide. By making the deaths pending, he's actually leaving open the possibility that police could charge a dealer with supplying the drugs, instead of closing the case altogether. That would add hundreds to Baltimore's already sky-high homicide count.
Should police use this tool more frequently to go after drug dealers or is it too much of a burden on an already taxed department? Are there enough resources to investigate thoroughly every overdose death in the city? The Western Maryland case shocked a community not used to dealing with such pain. And the suspect and victim were friends and everyone seemed to know where the drugs came from.
Baltimore's heath department released a study in January on drug overdose deaths in the city. Here are some main points:
Intoxication is an urgent public health challenge. Drug of abuse- and alcohol-associated death rates are three to four times higher in Baltimore than in Maryland or the United States as a whole. The number of people who die in the city from intoxication associated with drugs of abuse or alcohol is comparable to the number of people murdered. In six of the last 12 years, the number of intoxication deaths exceeded the number of homicides.
• Heroin is the most common drug associated with intoxication deaths. More than three-quarters (77%) of drug and alcohol intoxication deaths among city residents over the study period were associated with heroin. Cocaine was implicated in 29% of the deaths, and alcohol in 26%.
• Intoxication deaths have declined by a quarter since 1999. Intoxication deaths associated with drugs of abuse or alcohol among Baltimore City residents peaked in 1999 at 321 deaths, or 48.8 deaths per 100,000 residents, and have decreased relatively consistently since then, to 244 deaths in 2006, or 37.9 deaths per 100,000 residents.
• Heroin-associated intoxication deaths in particular have decreased dramatically since the late 1990s. Nearly half as many heroin-associated fatal intoxications occurred in 2006 than in 1999 (150 vs. 283.) In the late 90s, heroin was implicated in almost 90% of intoxication deaths; while in 2006, only 61% of deaths were associated with heroin. Nonetheless, heroin remains the substance most commonly implicated in fatal intoxication deaths, and it is the most common cause of single-drug intoxication deaths.
• Intoxication deaths increased in 2006, but appear to be decreasing again in 2007. Despite an overall trend of declining deaths, 2006 saw a 14% increase in drug of abuse or alcohol intoxication deaths compared to 2005, from 214 to 244. Data for the first three quarters of 2007 suggest intoxication deaths may be lower in 2007 than in 2006.
• Cocaine-associated intoxication deaths doubled between 2005 and 2006. After a decade of relatively stable counts, cocaine-associated intoxications more than doubled from 52 deaths in 2005 to 116 in 2006. Almost all the additional cocaine associated deaths also involved opioids, in particular heroin or methadone. One third of the increase in cocaine-associated deaths could be due improvements in detection of recent cocaine use in toxicological samples. Data for the first three quarters of 2007 suggest cocaine deaths declined in 2007 compared to 2006.
• Methadone-associated deaths increased gradually over the study period. Methadone-associated deaths increased from 7 in 1995 to 61 in 2006, with a major jump occurring from 2002 to 2003. Since 2003, the increase has been more gradual, with deaths increasing from 52 in 2003 to 61 in 2006. In 2006, methadone was associated with a quarter of the city’s drug of abuse- and alcohol- associated intoxication deaths. Data for the first three quarters of 2007 suggest this trend will continue in 2007.
• Alcohol is involved in a quarter of intoxication deaths. Alcohol-associated deaths peaked between 1997 and 2000, and decreased by more than 50% between 2000 and 2005. As with drug of abuse-associated deaths, alcohol-associated deaths increased in 2006. Data for the first three quarters of 2007 suggest alcohol deaths in 2007 have returned to 2005 levels.
• Victims were predominantly male, African American and middle-aged. From January 2003 to September 2007, 69% of intoxication deaths among Baltimore City residents occurred among men and 65% among African Americans. This mirrors the racial composition of the city. Age at death ranged from 14 to 77 years, with a mean of 44 years.
• Non–city residents accounted for between one in ten and one in six fatal intoxication incidents occurring in Baltimore. Non-residents who suffered fatal intoxications in Baltimore were more likely than residents to be Caucasian (73% vs. 33%) and more likely to be male (79% vs. 69%).
Comments
"it was only the second time federal prosecutors have filed to hold a drug dealer accountable" -- in MD, or nationally?
Posted by: MJB | December 5, 2008 2:43 PM
I understand the seriousness of drugs especially in urban areas like Baltimore and DC but this may be going too far. Heroin is dangerous and illegal but not necessarily deadly and its a slippery slope. If someone buys alcohol for a minor and the minor dies of alcohol poisoning is that also going to be manslaughter?
Posted by: Eric | December 5, 2008 5:32 PM
Maybe we should finally recognize that the war on drugs should finally come to an end. Lets legalize and tax. Alcohol is just as damaging, if not more, than many illegal drugs. Lets tax them, using the money on education and rehabilitation(for starters). Legalizing would also take another product away from organized crime(along w/prostitution). It's time to come up some new/different solutions to our growing problems.
As for punishing a drug dealer for the results of the illegal product he's pedaling. When do McDonald's, reality tv, liquor stores, and other harmful vices of our society get the blame? Place the blame where it belongs. Ourselves. Don't blame McDonalds because your fat. And don't blame reality tv because your stupid. Wake up and become responsible for your actions.
I think to prosecute a dealer for murder would just clog up our already overcrowded prisons and sap more of our already waning tax dollars.
Posted by: Dave | December 6, 2008 9:28 AM
Selling drugs is against the law and has been for a long time. People who sell drugs are aware of the laws They may not be aware that if they sell or give drugs to someone and that person dies as a result that they can and should be held accountable. It is the law as well. It is high time that people are held accountable for thier illegal acts especially if someone dies. Drugs are illegal for a reason. It is about time something is done to enforce the law. Only then will there be a decrease in the deaths that it has caused. Those that are dying are getting younger and younger it is time to save our youth. Not only are there federal laws but many states have laws as well. A site exists that has lots of info on overdoses, laws, news and lives affected visit www.friendsdontletfriendsdie.com
Posted by: Anonymous | December 7, 2008 2:32 PM
Drugs are against the law. It is time to enforce the law all the "Drug Laws" not just talk about them. Then it can be said that we are fighting the war on Drugs. Maybe then someone will think twice about selling, giving or slipping drugs to someone else. Get the word out; if someone gets drugs from you, overdoses and or dies, you will be and should be held accountable for their death. It is the law.
Visit www.friendsdontletfriendsdie.com
Posted by: Itsagainstthelaw | December 7, 2008 3:00 PM