Pubdate: Wed, 01 Aug 2007 Source: Dallas Morning News (TX) Copyright: 2007 The Dallas Morning News Contact: http://www.dallasnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117 Author: Brendan McKenna Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/walters.htm (Walters, John) DRUG CZAR TO VISIT DALLAS FOR BRIEFING ON 'CHEESE' EFFORTS White House Official Hopes To Keep Cheap Heroin From Spreading WASHINGTON - President Bush's drug czar will get a front-line tour today of Dallas' battle with "cheese" heroin, a potentially lethal form of the drug often targeted at teenage users. John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, will meet with representatives of the regional task force of local law enforcement, public health and education officials to learn more about a drug that has been linked to 23 student deaths since January 2005. Although cheese, a mix of black tar heroin and over-the-counter cold or sleeping pills, does not seem to be in use much beyond Dallas, the drug czar wants to find out what the federal government can do to help keep it from spreading. "He will get hopefully a first-hand and in-depth report and brief on exactly what this phenomenon, what this issue is about," said Scott Burns, deputy director for state, local and Indian affairs for the drug policy office. "Over the past six months to a year, we continue to hear more and more about cheese." Cheese has raised concerns among many anti-drug advocates because it is cheap - sometimes as little as $2 per dose - and is sometimes used in the recruitment of gang members. Plus, it poses risks of addiction for children who may not know they're buying heroin because of the innocuous name. Debbie Meripolski, executive director of the Greater Dallas Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, who has worked to arrange the briefing, said Mr. Walters will hear from her, Dallas police, educators and police from the Dallas Independent School District and a parent who has been involved in the area's efforts against cheese. "We want to make sure he's briefed on what is going on here," she said. "This problem is out of the ordinary." One message that Ms. Meripolski plans to stress is the need to maintain or increase funding for treatment programs. "There is a very short supply of adolescent treatment facilities in Dallas," she said. "We're short of treatment resources everywhere." Mr. Walters will probably be sympathetic to that plea, Mr. Burns said, referring to drug addiction as a disease and a public health issue. "If we're truly concerned about the disease of addiction and we know you catch it when you're 13, 12 and 11, we want to find out who's suffering from this disease and get them treatment," Mr. Burns said. He added that President Bush has consistently advocated increased funding for treatment and drug testing programs. "Our goal is to make federal funds available to every school district that makes a request" for testing money, Mr. Burns said of testing programs. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, wants heroin and cheese added to the list of drugs specifically addressed by national anti-drug education efforts. The drug policy office has expressed concern that adding cheese to the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, which focuses mainly on marijuana, prescription drug abuse and underage drinking, might spread awareness of it beyond Dallas. While in North Texas today, Mr. Walters will also announce a federal grant to help the Ennis Independent School District expand its random student drug testing beyond the steroid screening ordered this year by the Legislature. He will also announce similar grants to five Houston-area school districts today. John Doslich, the deputy superintendent in Ennis, said the federal funds are a welcome addition to the district's program to randomly test students participating in all extracurricular activities. That program is due to start in the next school year. He said the Ennis program is primarily designed to give students in extracurricular activities "an extra reason to say no" and grew from concerns raised by parents of student athletes. The most expensive part of the program will be the steroid screening for athletes, Mr. Doslich said. Those tests can run to as much as $150 per test as opposed to $15 for a basic screening. Although the drug czar is still working to find the best ways to combat cheese, he strongly believes that random student drug testing could be a powerful tool, Mr. Burns said. Cheese use will trigger a positive test for heroin. DISD allows all parents and students in grades six through 12 to sign up for random drug tests, said Linda Yater, executive director for student services for the district. That program, now in its second year, is paid for by a federal grant of $204,000 per year for three years. Dallas has no plans to require students to submit to random testing beyond the state program in the works to test high school athletes for steroids, Ms. Yater said, but the district will probably consider an expansion for other extracurricular activities in the future. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman