'CHEESE' MAY BECOME U.S. PRIORITY

But Some Worry More Exposure Could Lead More Youths to Drug

WASHINGTON - "Cheese," a deadly form of heroin targeted at teenage
users, could soon rank alongside marijuana and methamphetamines as a
primary focus of federal drug education programs.

Prompted by the more than 20 Dallas County deaths attributed to cheese
since 2005, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, is pushing legislation that
would make the drug - a mix of black tar heroin and cold medicine or
sleeping pills - a national priority.

Mr. Cornyn wants heroin, and specifically cheese heroin, added to the
list of illegal drugs specifically addressed by education and
prevention efforts of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign.
"This is a real danger to children in the Dallas area and other
places," he said Thursday.

He said cheese is of particular concern because it's cheap and
children don't realize it's heroin because of the innocuous name. He
also cited reports that it has been used as a gang recruitment tool.

Adding cheese to the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, which
focuses on preventing drug use among 9- to 18-year-olds, could help
keep it from spreading, Mr. Cornyn said.

But not everyone agrees. Some drug experts worry that elevating cheese
to a national concern might spread interest in a drug that's primarily
just a problem in Dallas County at this point.

"You could inadvertently end up with a double-edged sword," said
Jeremy Liebbe, an officer with the Dallas Independent School District
police. "National news media coverage of cheese has pros and cons. It
could inadvertently create curiosity.

"You get a lot of drug phenomenon that pop up in the country that die
out," he added.

The White House Office of Drug Control Policy also sees cheese heroin
as a serious but local problem that might be better addressed through
parental education than through anti-drug advertisements in a national
campaign.

"How do you raise awareness of a problem without informing teens that
would not otherwise have become aware of the threat?" said Jennifer de
Vallance, a spokeswoman for the office. "The campaign is designed to
be national in scope, largely focused on substance abuse in general
but also addressing the substances teens most often use."

The campaign focuses mainly on marijuana, prescription drug abuse and
underage drinking, Ms. de Vallance said. It targets methamphetamines
in regions of the country where use is highest.

"Cheese is a significant threat in Dallas and one that needs to be
dealt with aggressively," she said. "But there are probably more
cost-effective ways to deal with it than one of a national scope like
the media campaign.

"We will make sure we do all we can at every level to make sure the
problem doesn't spread and the problem in Dallas is reduced," she added.

So far, cheese heroin hasn't spread past the Dallas region, said Steve
Robertson, a Washington-based special agent with the Drug Enforcement
Administration. But "it wouldn't take long to spread," he said.

Cheese heroin, flavored methamphetamines such as "strawberry quick"
and other drugs aimed at young users are of special concern to the
DEA, Agent Robertson said.

"Cheese and strawberry quick are classic examples of how drug
traffickers take their poisons and change the appearance, color, taste
or name" to market to teens and younger children, he said. "No matter
how they package it, no matter how they try to change it, cheese is
heroin, and it can destroy your life."