Up to three-quarters of drug-overdose victims in Boston are white, even though whites comprise only half of the city's population, the Boston Globe reported March 25.

Documenting a 50-percent rise in overdose deaths between 1999 and 2003, the Boston Public Health Commission reported that 94 of the city's 145 overdose victims in 2003 were white, compared to 32 blacks and 19 Hispanics.

Researchers said that not only do the figures counter the myth that drug addiction is primarily an inner-city, minority problem, but also points to the rising popularity of drugs like heroin and OxyContin. Whites tend to use these drugs more than blacks or Hispanics, who tend to prefer crack or cocaine.

The heroin being sold in neighborhoods like South Boston, Charlestown, North Dorchester, and East Boston is particularly potent, raising the risk of overdose. The death rate from drug use in South Boston and Charlestown was double that in the rest of the city in 2003.

"There is a much larger use of heroin now in the white neighborhoods than there ever was before," said state Rep. Brian P. Wallace (D-South Boston). "The heroin is rampant. It's cheaper, purer, and people are buying it. We're seeing people in their 40s who are OD-ing."

Even as overdose rates rise, however, treatment availability in the city has fallen; Boston has lost 39 percent of its detox beds in recent years, and the number of residents getting treatment fell to its lowest level in three years in 2004. Wallace is among a group of residents and legislators trying to increase treatment funding.

The drug-related death rate among whites in 2003 was 32.9 per 100,000 population, compared to 25.2 percent of blacks and 22.6 percent of Hispanics. Drug use was the sixth-leading cause of death among men in Boston, trailing only heart disease, cancer, injuries, chronic pulmonary disease, and stroke.