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Deadlier ‘cheese’ peddled in Plano
By Josh Hixson, Staff Writer
The “cheese” being sold to youth in Plano contains significantly higher concentrations of heroin, than versions found in Dallas, according to police and substance abuse officials.
“The Dallas cheese is kind of like starter heroin. A small amount of heroin mixed with diphenhydramine,” said Sabina Stern, Collin County’s substance abuse coordinator. “Plano people are adopting the name cheese but it is 20 to 50 percent heroin. Dallas’ is only 2 to 8 percent heroin.”
Cheese is the nickname for the Dallas area drug that contains a mixture of heroin and diphenhydramine in the form of either Tylenol PM or Benadryl.
Stern meets once a month with members the Collin County medical examiner, area law enforcement agencies and substance abuse officials to discuss trends in teen drug use.
Through e-mail correspondence with Martinez from Feb. 21-22, Stern said Martinez informed her that the cheese police saw in Plano contained higher levels of heroin.
“What (Plano police) have seen called cheese is a different kind of animal,” Stern said.
Martinez declined to comment.
Among the teens referred to Stern for counseling she said few claim to be using cheese, however she said the number of teens trying heroin in Collin County is growing.
“There is a slight increase in the use of heroin by teenagers,” Stern said. “We are not seeing it yet at critical levels. There are deaths every year due to heroin overdosing, but they tend not to be young teens or teenagers.”
Drug dealers are specifically targeting youth when they sell cheese, Stern said.
“Drug dealers are lying to them about this drug,” Stern said. “‘Try this cheese.’ They are not telling them, ‘Oh, by the way this is heroin.’”
Dr. Shameem Nazeer, who works in the emergency room at the Medical Center of Plano, said she and her colleagues have treated several Plano teens for cheese overdoses within the last month.
“I think cheese is very much in Plano,” Nazeer said. “I think we are seeing it quite regularly, we didn’t use to see it so much. I have treated two (cheese overdoses) myself just in the past month. They have mostly been high school-aged kids.”
Nazeer said a cheese overdose is harder to treat than a normal heroin overdose because doctors don’t have an easy cure for diphenhydramine overdose.
“If they have only taken heroin and they get to the emergency room soon enough we could treat them with Narcan,” Nazeer said. “We don’t really have an antidote for a Benadryl overdose or some of the other drugs they are mixing it with.”
Both heroin and diphenhydramine are sedatives that when taken together can depress a person’s respiratory rate to the point where they no longer respond to the body’s natural reflex to breath, Nazeer said.
“It is not a conscious decision to stop breathing,” Nazeer said. “You forget to breathe any more.”
Nazeer said cheese made with 20 to 50 percent heroin would be much more dangerous than cheese made with only 2 to 8 percent heroin.
“The more heroin you have, the more risk you are going to have for respiratory depression,” Nazeer said. “The higher the percentage of heroin in cheese, the higher the danger.”
For asthmatics, a group that already suffers from breathing problems, cheese and heroin can prove to be especially lethal, according to both Nazeer and Stern.
Sgt. Terence Holway, a supervisor in The Plano Police Department’s narcotics division, said heroin has had a presence in Plano since the 1980s.
“Heroin has never left Plano. It has always been cut with diphenhydramine,” Holway said Tuesday night at a drug forum held at Williams High School. “It is not a new drug.”
He said Plano’s proximity to Mexico, where most of the heroin he sees originates, makes it a market for the deadly drug.
“We are too close to the border,” Holway said. “Heroin is the most addictive drug we deal with.”
Contact Josh Hixson at jhixson@acnpapers.com
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
Where are your kids? wrote on May 21, 2007 7:27 PM:
" Affluent parents who are too busy being at the country club than to care about what their kids are doing. Where is your kid tonight? I don't know, I'm going to a show at the Magestic. "
Gigi Mitchell wrote on May 28, 2007 11:12 PM:
" I would like to address this issue, I have a teenager and I am not at the country club. This can happen to any of our children whether your zip code is 75023 or 75093. We have to start with better communication with our kids, yes some parents are guilty of giving the kids everything to make up for not being a present parent, these days it take two parents working to maintain a living, its not an excuse, But my point is that we have to make time for our children even if our children dont want to make time for us the parents. EDUCATE your children to the dangers of drugs. When they come to you for their "allowance" sit them down and talk, ask questions, COMMUNICATE even if you think they are telling you what you want to hear tell them the danger and that you care. "
Concerned wrote on Jun 4, 2007 1:00 PM:
" It would be very useful to handle the demand side of this equation too. Intuitively, that starts with the family, neighborhoods, schools, etc. In the meantime, an all out war should be wage to destroy the supply side. "
Clay wrote on Jun 4, 2007 5:31 PM:
" Get to know your kid's friend's parents. That way you can make a quick call and compare notes. Plus, if the other parents know you're watching them, they will be more resonsible when your kids are with them. Don't sit back and think your kids "would never do that" or think they're totally clean. Spot check here and there - you may be surprised. - A Plano Dad "
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