Deadly Drug Craze...Cheese

Hearing “Cheese” does not mean to flash your pearly whites for the camera anymore. Cheese is the nickname for the emerging deadly drug craze sweeping the country. It is also known as Cheese-Heroin and it is the new face of heroin. It is a combination of black tar heroin and Tylenol PM (acetaminophen and diphenhydramine) or Tylenol 3 (codeine) and is highly addictive. The heroin and Tylenol are crushed and mixed together to form a dangerous tan-colored powder snorted through the nose, swallowed, injected or smoked. The drug is inexpensive and the combination creates a euphoric high and hallucinogenic feeling. It also causes heart and respiratory failure and lead to death.

The drug is popular with Hispanic teenagers and is spreading quickly among seventh through ninth graders. Black tar heroin is smuggled into the United States from Mexico and has become a huge problem for the city of Dallas and the Dallas Independent School district. It is estimated that there are more than two dozen deaths from the drug since 2005. The drugs popularity has spread into neighboring suburban areas and other large cities across America claiming lives there as well.

Since the drug can sell for as little as $2 a bump (one time hit) or $10 a gram and is easily made with over-the-counter drugs, many drug stores in the Dallas area have stopped carrying Tylenol PM or have moved the drug behind the pharmacy counter. Cheese-Heroin is usually purchased in tiny plastic zip lock baggies or small paper bindles. Bindles are small pieces of paper that have been cut or torn and folded into a home-made mini-envelope.

Cheese-Heroin is classified as a Schedule I drug. This means it is one of the most addictive illegal drugs available. The drug causes a person to get drowsy and lethargic. It also causes euphoria, disorientation and sleepiness. The mixture is a combination of depressants and after snorting cheese, a person may simply lie down, fall asleep and never wake up. Other symptoms include excessive thirst and hunger. Teenagers who start using cheese often change friends, clothing styles and show a decline in their grades.

Drinking alcohol and using Cheese-Heroin causes further complications because another depressant is being added to the deadly mixture causing an even higher chance of dying from an overdose. A person’s reactions become slower when using depressants which also increase the dangers and risks of driving while under the influence.

The risks of withdrawal are horrific when dealing with anything mixed with heroin. Withdrawal symptoms may begin very quickly (within a few hours) and may last five to six days or longer. A person withdrawing from cheese face severe mood swings with extreme highs and lows. They may have a difficult time sleeping, headaches, cold chills, nausea and continuous vomiting. The person will become anxious and agitated easily. Uncontrollable muscle spasms and an aching body are all a part of what is to be expected during the withdrawal process.

Since Dallas has seen more incidents and arrests from Cheese-Heroin than any other city or school district in the country, the city of Dallas and the school system say they are educating students, parents and teachers about Cheese-Heroin and raising awareness of the drug. The Dallas police department and ISD police are working together on a special community task force to assist each other in cracking down and making more arrests for Cheese-Heroin.

The article writer is Amy "AJ" Crowell, author of the book Loved Back to Life. The book offers suggestions for those with alcohol and/or drug problems, their families, friends and co-workers. n