DEALERS MIX HEROIN, TYLENOL TO TARGET KIDS

In their quest to lure new, younger clientele, drug dealers are
mixing their wares with over-the-counter pain remedies and other
familiar products -- even candy -- and peddling them under
non-threatening names.

One such concoction, a blend of black tar heroin and Tylenol PM that
goes by the name "cheese," has been linked to the deaths of 19
teenagers in Dallas, including two 15-year-olds.

"If you're a drug dealer you have to target a new audience all the
time," said Garrison Courtney, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency
spokesman. "It's Marketing 101 for drug dealers."

Examples of the drug-mixing strategy also include candy laced with
marijuana and, in several states, flavoured methamphetamine. In
Arkansas recently, a mix of meth and strawberry-flavoured powder
normally used to create a children's milk drink turned up under the
name "Strawberry Quick."

"They're calling it 'cheese,' they're not calling it heroin," said
Dr. Collin Goto, a toxicologist at Children's Medical Center Dallas.
"It becomes much more appealing to younger kids because it doesn't
have the stigma, they're not as afraid to get started."

Dallas school district police first became aware of the heroin-mixing
trend in 2005, and it has become a disturbing phenomenon since.