DANGER IN 'CHEESE' LIES IN TEENS' PERCEPTION

Joe Yanez has his work cut out for him.

The Phoenix House of Texas prevention specialist, who treks from
campus to campus preaching the ills of drug use, recalled a recent
conversation he had with a young girl about "cheese," the $2-a-hit
black tar heroin/Tylenol PM powder that is hooking kids in northwest
Dallas and beyond.

"She kept saying, 'It isn't heroin,' 'I wouldn't do heroin,' 'That's
for drug addicts,' 'Heroin's what people put in their arms,' 'I've
never heard of cheese in the movies,' " Mr. Yanez said. "We argued for
30 minutes."

Making youths understand that cheese, which surfaced about two years
ago in Dallas schools, is indeed heroin was the purpose of a large
rally Thursday night at Marsh Middle School in northwest Dallas.

The gathering, which drew about 400 children and parents, featured
testimonials from parents, police and young, hip adults who have seen
their friends and relatives succumb to addiction.

Activist Carlos Quintanilla, who organized Thursday's event, led a
moment of silence for one of the school's own, eighth-grader Oscar
Gutierrez.

The 15-year-old was found dead Feb. 18 in his bed after a night of
partying. His parents suspect he overdosed on cheese, which he was
known to use. Toxicology results are still pending, however.

"He is the lightning rod that has caused us to declare war on this
drug," said Mr. Quintanilla, who has a son at Marsh. Several kids at
the rally had knee-length T-shirts emblazoned with Oscar's picture.

For Christine Plunkett, who heads Marsh's parent-teacher association,
the fight against the spread of heroin is personal. Her brother
overdosed on the highly addictive drug and died six years ago.

"He had been addicted for years," she said. "We had been trying to get
him help, but he was on and off treatment."

She said his addiction problem began with alcohol and marijuana when
he was about the age of most of the kids at Thursday's rally. His
gradual descent into harder drugs followed, she said.

Cheese, she said, is more insidious. "The way this drug is used, kids
don't know what it is, what they're getting into," she said.

Authorities estimate that in the last year, at least four teens in the
Dallas area have died from overdoses of cheese. Authorities believe
the drug has been mixed and sold by teens mostly at Marsh and Cary
middle schools and W.T. White, North Dallas and Thomas Jefferson high
schools.

However, it has been found to a lesser extent at other schools. Police
have filed at least 200 criminal cases against students caught with
the drug since 2005.

Police say cheese, which looks like parmesan cheese and is usually
sold folded into notebook paper, has dangerously inconsistent levels
of black tar heroin mixed with the over-the-counter sleep aid Tylenol
PM. That means users, who often have little or no experience with
drugs, can snort too much of a bad batch and die. Those who don't are
hooked typically after one try, leading many to begin dealing to
support their habit, police say.

A week ago, authorities arrested 29-year-old Martin Laguna, who is
suspected of being a major heroin dealer in the area who is supplying
the drugs used to mix cheese.

Federal and local investigators say they expect to make many more
arrests.

Dallas school district police have set up a hotline, 214-932-5695,
where people with information about who is supplying the drugs can
leave an anonymous message.