Hospital's emergency room, raised the alarm about the rising tide of teenagers he was seeing who were experiencing heroin withdrawal symptoms.

Some of these addicts were just 17-years-old, having started to use the drug in their mid-teens.

Last month, Dr. Derrick Binns, research officer for the National Drug Commission, issued a stern warning that the number of school-aged first time users of heroin was increasing, based on a recent survey his organisation had carried out.

But Dr. Binns warned that Bermuda would not get on top of its drug problem until research and sharing between all the agencies involved in the drug fight becomes the norm.

In a five-part series that begins on Monday, Royal Gazette senior reporter John Burchall shines the spotlight on Bermuda's heroin problem.

The series will focus on various facets of the issue including policing the heroin trade through the eyes of senior Police and Customs officers.

Burchall also goes out to the streets and brings back the perspective of two street-level dealers -- one a former pusher who became involved when heroin first hit Bermuda around 1970. The other is a young man who makes as much as $20,000 from the sale of one ounce of the drug and says he feels no guilt.

"After all,'' he says, "it's just business.'' Burchall also speaks with addiction counsellors about treatment and the methadone programme and sits down with Dr. Binns and EAP executive director Deborah Carr and examines policy questions and the effect of heroin use in the workplace.

What emerges at the end is a picture of a drug that destroys lives, tears apart families and wreaks havoc on the community.

DRUGS DGS