NEWEST DRUG ON STREETS IS 'CHEESE'

Black Tar Heroin, Tylenol PM Mix Proving Deadly

Drug experts are closely monitoring the emergence of a dangerous new
street drug known as "cheese" which 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 they have been hearing reports about the deadly
concoction, which is made by blending black tar heroin and Tylenol PM.

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

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

Despite "cheese" being a heroin-based drug, American addiction
experts are worried youths will not realize how deadly it is because
of its street name. Kids in the U.S. are often buying it from other
kids and it can be as cheap as $2 a dose which can be smoked or
snorted instead of injected with a needle.

Rintoul said it is always a possibility the drug will make its way to
Canada, but a cross-Canada check has shown him that right now, it is
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 it is
likely youths using "cheese" have been abusing drugs before. "Rarely
are these types of chemical 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."