'CHEESE' - A DEADLY THREAT TO OUR YOUTH

As if our communities and lives weren't complicated enough, a new
threat has been emerging over the last two years. The threat is called
"Cheese." Unlike store bought cheese, this cheese can kill you. This
cheese is a concoction of Mexican black-tar heroin and nighttime cold
medicine. When mixed together, it resembles grated Parmesan cheese.

The most disturbing news is that drug dealers are targeting middle
schools. Kids as young as 11 are getting hooked on this snortable
high. The double sedative effects of the heroin and nighttime cold
medicines make for a deadly brew.

Our middle school youth already struggle with peer pressure, but now,
it could cost them their lives. Cheese had it origin in Texas in 2005,
where at least 21 youth have died from it and hundreds have been
admitted to treatment facilities. Coined "cheese" by the youth
addicted to it, drug counselors such as myself considered it a gateway
drug to more advanced recreational street drugs, including cocaine and
methamphetamines.

Cheese is not only dangerous; it is very cheap. Sold for $1 to $2 for
a single hit, it can be snorted with a straw or through a ballpoint
pen. Its symptoms include drowsiness, sluggishness, euphoria,
excessive thirst, and disorientation; That is, if the user survives.

As parents and concerned citizens, we must understand the implication
of "cheese" as a recreational drug. According to law enforcement drug
experts, Cheese is a combination of black tar Mexican heroin and
crushed medications that contain the antihistamine diphenhydramine,
found in products such as Tylenol PM, Benadryl Tablets, and Excedrin
PM, which are marketed as pain relievers and sleep aids. Combine this
with the effects of heroin and you will get a double whammy to your
body. You are getting two downers at once.

The danger is very real. If you take your body and you start slowing
everything inside it down, eventually you're going to slow down the
heart until it stops and, when it stops, you're dead. It you survive,
the withdrawal symptoms will generally appear as early as six hours
after use.

Who are the drug dealers? Our preconceived notion is of a 20-something
standing near playgrounds, at a drug house, or in back alleys.
However, be aware that the best dealer is one from within the target
group. One 16-year-old user explained that students buy the tar heroin
off campus, mix up the cheese at home and then sell it at school.

In working with young drug abusers and addicts, I have come to two
important realizations; first, drugs are a waste of time, they destroy
your life, your memory, your self-respect, and everything that goes
along with your self-esteem. Second, drugs never helped anybody study
better, play sports better, sing better, play music better, or do
anything better. All drugs can do for you is kill you; and kill you
the long, slow, hard way.

As a community we need to educate our youth on the extreme danger of
Cheese and other drugs. Let us attack this new drug before we are
faced with the sad undertaking of burying our children who could have
been saved.

Luis Lopez is a Zephyrhills city councilman.