May 2, 2007 3:14 am US/Pacific
'Cheese' Heroin New Deadly Drug Of Choice
by Allen Martin
(CBS 5)
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"Cheese" is a snortable drug which is a mixture of black tar heroin and nighttime pain reliever.
CBS 11 News
It's the new drug of choice.
"Kids are saying, 'It's cheese, it's cheese,'" said James Capra of the Dallas Drug Enforcement Agency. "It's heroin, it's deadly, deadly heroin."
"Cheese" is Tylenol PM chopped up and mixed with black tar heroin, then snorted. It's a drug that has become an epidemic in the Dallas, Texas area.
David Witherspoon knows what it is. His son died in a tunnel after overdosing on the drug.
When asked if his son knew of the dangers of "cheese," Witherspoon said, "He didn't know. None of these kids know at that age."
But clearly, some do know. Arrests for possession in Dallas-area schools have jumped 82 percent this year. Police say dealers are as young as 11-years-old.
"Well, I see a lot of people doing it. In class, everywhere," said "Victor," a 16-year-old who is in rehab for the second time in seven months. He died nearly three weeks ago.
"The next time I did some, I didn't feel high with just one line. So I needed to use more to get high," he said.
At $2 per hit, "Cheese" is cheap. And the playground is the breeding ground for its rapid spread.
"I mainly did it at school because it's easiest to get it at school," said "Ann," a former addict. Sometimes the kids would do it right behind the teacher, like when she turned her back."
"Ann" is 17 and in recovery. But at least 18 others haven't been lucky enough to survive and get into rehab. Snorting "Cheese" has killed them.
"We have a tragedy on our hands," Capra said.
5-years-ago, the Texas State Health Department paid for 19 North Texas teenagers to be treated for heroin addiction. In the last six months, the number has grown to 135, a 600 percent increase.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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