an upsurge in the use of heroin, particularly among people in their teens and early 20s. In the first in a five-part series running this week, John Burchall talks to a local heroin dealer who claims to feel no remorse about his potentially deadly trade.

*** At 20-something, Mark seems to have everything going for him. He's good-natured, outgoing and perceptive.

Yet underneath this exterior, there lurks a shrewd, calculating and devious mind that even his charm can't camouflage.

Mark is pragmatic and malevolent as those who owe him money can attest. His business is heroin, a seductive piece of merchandise.

To his peers he is a general, "a leader of men'' no less. He is "down with the tribe that spawned him'' -- but he says he has no regrets.

Mark (not his real name) lives in a space between now and then. He is always on guard because his life is a daily, early morning cat and mouse ritual between himself, the Police Service's beefed up Narcotics department and rival dealers.

Every year his tricky balancing act becomes more difficult. His customers are younger and more ruthless, especially when they want their "taste.'' There's a knowing restraint in his voice. His intonation alone conjures up a wintry image of a steely-eyed hustler plying his trade to a street corner constituency of dedicated consumers.

That dedication was the attraction for dealing heroin in the first place.

Unlike the early days when he dealt chronic (cannabis) and cocaine, his heroin customers are sure to find him -- no matter what.

"You will never see a heroin addict out late at night,'' he explained, his butterscotch brown skin illuminated under the mustard glow of a street light.

"They are getting their rest and they have their taste already tucked away for tomorrow.

"A heroin addict needs his first taste as soon as he gets up or else he cannot sleep that night. He must have his breakfast, not to get high, but just to function.

"When he rolls out of bed he's got a serious `Jones' happening (withdrawal symptoms). It's like he has a bad cold or the 'flu. His bones ache, he gets diarrhoea, stomach cramps, watery eyes and he feels like s**t.'' Heroin pusher has no regrets Consequently, the heroin user must plan a day in advance to make sure that he has enough "tastes'' to satisfy his urge every four to six hours each day.

"If he has no money, he will steal from anyone to get his taste because he does not want to be Jonesin','' Mark says. "If it's a girl she will offer sex with as many men as she needs to (often at the same time if necessary) so that she can get that $20 for her next hit.'' Mark says none of the other drugs he has dealt (cocaine and cannabis) have this kind of dedicated client base and in the case of cannabis, it is far too bulky and hard to hide.

Heroin, he said, is far easier to manage. He buys an ounce in Bermuda for $6,000 compared to $2,000 for the same amount of cocaine and between $500 and $700 for an ounce of cannabis.

But that ounce of heroin (28 grams) will yield between $800 and $1000 per gram which means that he can make a $20,000 profit from one ounce that cost him $6,000 initially. (See sidebar) That ounce is carefully measured out on gram scales and mixed with four ounces of milk sugar. It is then sold to other dealers by the half gram, who then divide the it into 40 "bags'', sold for $20 a price on the street. it may have been further cut by then, raising the dealer's profit further.

"Even though it is wrapped in foil we still call it a bag,'' Mark adds.

"Some guys call it a dime bag because the foil is about the size of a ten cent piece.

"Each of those 40 bags or hits will sell for $20 each so for a heroin addict a hit is much cheaper than for someone using coke because it can run between $100 to $125 a hit.

"Back in `the day', guys used to shoot heroin but almost no one does that now because of AIDS.

"I would be really surprised if any of the people that buy from me were mainlining (injecting) because most of them like to snort it or smoke fraggle joints (marijuana cigarettes laced with brown heroin also known as diamorphine).

"Mexican heroin is the favourite of mainliners because the humidity makes it sticky. But snorters don't like Mexican heroin. But when they get desperate and it's all I have, they will mix it with a little water and with a glass dropper put it into their nose.'' Mark says a few of his clients have a $100 per day habit which means they are doing as many as five bags per day seven days a week.

And for his younger male clients who tried the drug and experienced the "instant virility'' of an erection that stayed up seemingly forever. The hook is immensely powerful.

"For the first 24 to 36 hours they are sexual tigers and are bragging to their friends about their new found manliness. After about ten days they come back to normal but they find that they are never able to get back there again.

"They increase their dose from one to two bags but they almost always complain that they didn't feel it because that hit barely took away their `Jones'.

"At this point I realise I have a new potential customer. So whatever dose I gave them that first time I put a quarter cut on it by replacing a quarter gram of the heroin with milk sugar.

"He will use that for one week and then by the next week he will double the amount of bags he buys but the product I am selling him is even weaker because I will then put a 50 percent cut on that.

"By that time he will think he has gotten used to it. So he increases his purchases even more.'' Mark says that he never cuts his heroin until he is ready to sell it because the milk sugar attacks the product almost immediately, causing it to become weaker.

To counter this tendency, and also to keep track of his money, he only prepares one half gram at a time.

"The beautiful thing about heroin is it is so easy to conceal unlike cannabis. I have brought back as much as one ounce from the United States compressed in three jumbo markers.

"I had them in my top pocket and I made sure my name was marked on my bags with one of the markers. It looked like I had just bought them.

"Other times I have concealed two to three grams under my tongue or flattened out an entire ounce of powder and placed it inside the lining of my belt or the album cover of a record.

"I have also used couriers. I will pay their hotel and ticket and they will bring me one ounce of top grade heroin.

"In other cases I have continued to sell my product to customers in Westgate.

Their girlfriends will come and get a hit and hold it in their mouth. When they kiss their man they pass it along. Or I will give them an orange that has a small slit cut inside it with a razor. The hit is then placed inside and no one is the wiser.'' Mark shows no remorse when he is asked whether he feels any guilt for the lives he has ruined over the years. Initially, he bristles at the suggestion and his eyes narrow.

The silence however grows unbearable and he speaks up.

"Dope selling to me is simply a business. Corporations spread pollution all around the globe, or they move their factories to poor countries so they can make more money.

"If I had a nine to five job I would not be able to have the things I have managed to get and visit some of the places I have travelled to. I don't even think about what this is doing to anyone else because frankly I don't give a s**t. Selling DOPE (which he said really stands for his Desire to Overcome the Pressures of his Existence) is a way to survive. I have no marketable skills,'' he said. "I cannot work in an office. To be a black man is to be a shadow, a statistic. I watch the news you know.

"It's like I am trying to be brown in a society that loves only pink and pale. Or being nappy in a nation of hot curlers and blow dryers.

"Yes I sell drugs. I won't say that I am proud of that but I am not exactly ashamed of it either.'' Tomorrow: A long-time heroin user who is now HIV-positive speaks out.

VARIETIES OF HEROIN -- Seized Diamorphine (above) is generally preferred by people who like to snort or smoke heroin and the less-frequently seen white heroin (below), which is preferred by people who inject the drug.