 Despite seven drug-related killings in DC in recent weeks police say there is no evidence of a drug war The violence may be evidence of increased drug activity in the city Angela Owens reports There is a very definite increase in the heroin traffic in the district police say it's been steadily rising since last July And the people on the streets say it's gotten very hot in the last two months The major indicator of the increase as they see it is the price of a bag of dope Well, the prices has come down, you know moderately say it was about fifty to forty five dollars before now between forty and thirty five, you know you get stronger dope Forty thirty five dollars, and you could for forty five and fifty dollars before, you know And the stronger the dope is the more likely people are to die from it well for the last two years including on so far this year the Numbers of narcotic related overdose fatalities are substantially in excess of what they were in 1978 for example And the rate this year is about what it was last year. We've had 13 overdose deaths so far in 1980 and fatalities We've noticed over the last almost 10 years now reflect very Precisely and are a very good barometer. What's happening on the street the district has an estimated 11,000 addicts who may have 100 to 150 dollar a day habits Well, this means big money to the dealers the addicts are buying and putting into their veins up to one and a half million dollars in dope every day Well, where is all the dope coming from? Iran Afghanistan and Pakistan mainly of this according to the Drug Enforcement Administration Well in April we saw the gravity of the heroin and opium addiction problems in Southwestern Asia Where more opium is being produced than anywhere else in the world two-thirds of what's produced there We're told will be used there and in Europe the rest Well, it's being shipped out to the United States. If our estimates are correct And the 60 metric tons is converted to heroin This would be enough to supply the United States for several years and we must also Keep in mind That if a bumper crop of opium in Southeast Asia occurs within the near future you'll have both types of heroin linking up and Which could develop into a serious heroin epidemic in this country