SILENCE IS SURRENDER - TALK TO YOUR KIDS ABOUT 'CHEESE'

Because young people today generally aren't interested in sticking
needles in their arms, the traditional method of using heroin, drug
lords are now mixing the drug with crushed Tylenol PM tablets. It's a
snortable version called "cheese," and it's so cheap that DISD
students can buy a toot with their lunch money -- and get change.

To be precise, cheese is new in North Texas, but snortable heroin is
not. A similar, even more potent version of the drug -- then called
"chiva" -- hooked Plano kids in the late 1990s, resulting in scores of
overdoses and close to 20 deaths before authorities busted the drug
ring. At the time, Plano officials and leading citizens downplayed the
significance of the city's heroin problem, which eventually grew so
serious it couldn't be ignored.

So far, the cheese epidemic has taken four lives as it works its way
through teen communities in predominantly Hispanic schools. But this
time, nobody's hiding anything: drug counselors, cops and others are
not shy about spreading the word.

Police arrested a suspect Thursday who they believe is a major
supplier of the heroin used in the drug mix. Earlier in the week, DISD
Superintendent Michael Hinojosa met with community leaders and police
in an effort to combat the crisis. Spreading knowledge and awareness
is crucial to fighting this scourge.

Why? A huge number of Dallas-area kids being treated for cheese
addiction had no idea they were putting heroin into their bodies when
they started on the drug. What's more, many of these kids come from
families in which both parents work long shifts and aren't around to
watch their kids closely.

It's not fair to blame parents for their children's drug use, but it
is important to say, and say clearly, that law enforcement and school
authorities can't save these kids from heroin on their own. Parents,
family members and others in the community who interact with students
are key.

Given the evil and the inventiveness of pushers, we may never win the
drug war. But every victory we deny that scum is a kid's life saved
from addiction, criminality, even death. Silence means surrender. And
we don't dare surrender.