DRUG CZAR PRAISES TESTING BY TEXAS SCHOOL DISTRICTS

DALLAS -- Fernando Cortez Sr. hopes that increased national awareness
about "cheese" heroin will prevent other parents from experiencing
the loss he did. His son, 15-year-old Fernando Cortez Jr., died March
31 after he took the drug -- a mixture of black tar heroin and
crushed over-the-counter medicine such as Tylenol PM.

"These issues need to be addressed," Cortez said, "to help moms and
dads so they don't go through what I went through."

John Walters, President Bush's "drug czar," was in Dallas on
Wednesday to draw attention to the importance of random drug testing
in schools and to award some grants.

Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, also
met with Dallas law enforcement and school district officials to
discuss the drug that has been blamed for more than 20 teenagers'
deaths in Dallas County in the past two years.

Some highlights of his talk:

He praised Texas school districts that have implemented random drug
testing programs but noted that students with addictions also need
access to treatment programs and support.

"Community education is important to tell people that even though it
has a name like food ... [cheese] can be fatal," he said.

Walters announced $1.67 million in grants that will assist Texas
school districts in running their random drug testing programs. The
Ennis school district will receive $148,566. Most of the money went
to the Houston area.

In another meeting, Walters talked with the Texas High School Coaches
Association in Fort Worth about random drug and steroid testing.

Dallas officials said 3 percent of 12,580 Dallas students tested
during the last school year tested positive for drugs, with the top
three drugs being marijuana, methamphetamine and heroin, which school
district officials assume is cheese heroin.

Cheese has not been linked to any deaths in Tarrant County, said
Linda Anderson, spokeswoman for the Tarrant County medical examiner's office.

But at least eight people have died from mixed-drug overdoses this
year, she said.

Several school districts in Tarrant County randomly screen students
for illegal drug and alcohol use. They include: Azle,
Grapevine-Colleyville, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw, White Settlement and Burleson.

This report includes material from Star-Telegram archives.