A federal drug enforcement agent says heroin-caused deaths have doubled in St. Louis city and county in the last four years.  He says the heroin death rate has tripled in Franklin county and has increased even more in two other nearby counties, Jefferson and Franklin. 

The figures have led to a summit meeting of police chiefs in the region to launch a new campaign against heroin sales, possession, and use. St. Louis County police chief Tim Fitch has told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch heroin has gone past cocaine and is catching up to marijuana as the drug of choice in the area.