HUNTINGTON -- A Huntington man died last week of an apparent heroin overdose, bringing the 2007 total of suspected cases in Cabell County to at least 11.

Neighbors of James Lamar Berryman Jr., 46, found him unconscious in their apartment in the 400 block of 7th Avenue about 3 p.m. Friday, Huntington Police Chief Skip Holbrook said. Paramedics took Berryman to Cabell Huntington Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Though it could take up to six weeks for Berryman's toxicology report to be released, Holbrook said evidence found at the scene gives investigators sufficient reason to believe that Berryman's death was linked to heroin use.

The number of heroin-related deaths in the county in 2007 is nearly triple the number that was reported in the past five years combined. Only four heroin-related deaths were reported in the county between 2001 and 2006, according to the state Health Statistics Center.

In addition, Cabell County EMS crews responded to 70 overdoses between July and mid-October. EMS Director Gordon Merry has suspected at least 10 of those cases involved heroin use.

"There is no comparison," Holbrook said of the heroin-related problems law enforcement officials have encountered this year versus previous years. "This is a major priority that our drug unit is working on. It's just unfortunate that it is so apparent we are having this problem."

Holbrook said Berryman's two neighbors told police that Berryman was in their apartment about 10 minutes when he asked to go to the restroom. Moments later, the neighbors said they heard a loud noise come from the bathroom. When they opened the door, they found Berryman unconscious with a needle sticking in his arm, according to the police report.

Berryman's neighbors have been cooperative with police, Holbrook said. Arrests might occur as a result of the investigation, but they will not be related to Berryman's death, he said.

Holbrook said his department has found no evidence suggesting that heroin is being mixed with other powerful drugs and sold to buyers. That has been the case over the past two years in several cities in Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohio, where authorities have found batches of heroin laced with fentanyl.

The mixture was such a problem in Detroit last year that public health officials had to issue warnings when 12 people died from it in a 24-hour period.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 80 to 100 times more powerful than morphine.

Holbrook said he attributes the local increase in heroin use and subsequent deaths to the rising price and crackdown of OxyContin and other prescription painkillers.

"Pills are going for about $1 per milligram on the street, so it can get very expensive," he said. "People are turning to heroin because it's a cheaper alternative, but they are inexperienced with the purity and the use of it."

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