DRUG EXPERTS SAY 'CHEESE' ISN'T HERE YET

Blend Of Tylenol With Heroin A Concern Of Schools In Texas

Drug experts in B.C. are closely monitoring the emergence of a
dangerous new street drug known as "cheese" that has already been
blamed for more than a dozen deaths in the United States.

RCMP Sgt. Scott Rintoul of the Drug and Organized Crime Awareness
office said police have been hearing reports about the deadly
concoction, a blend of black tar heroin and Tylenol PM.

"It's not yet an issue up here," said Rintoul Friday of reports that
the drug has been linked to up to 19 deaths in the American South.

School officials in Dallas claim the drug has been a concern for two
years. In February, 122 people were arrested for possessing the drug,
with the average age of those arrested 14.

Because it is a heroin-based drug, American addiction experts are
worried youths will not realize how deadly it is because of its
street name. Young people in the U.S. often buy it from their peers;
it can be as cheap as $2 a dose and can be smoked or snorted instead
of injected with a needle.

"There is no evidence to support it being here," added Rintoul.

Rintoul said it is always a possibility the drug will make its way to
Canada, but a cross-Canada check has shown him that it is currently
only a problem south of the border.

"You'd see it in Montreal, Toronto or here and we're not hearing of
it, which is a good thing," he said.

St. Paul's Hospital clinical psychiatrist Dr. Bill MacEwan said the
big problem remains crystal meth. "We see little heroin. It's more
the 'up' drugs like meth," he said.

MacEwan said it is likely youths using "cheese" have been abusing drugs before.

"Rarely are these types of chemical [an] entry-level drug use," he
said. "We need to be looking at what else is going on in their lives
to get them to that stage."