NPR for North Texas
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Dallas County Receives Additional Funds for Heroin Epidemic

By Sujata Dand, KERA News

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-611879.mp3

Dallas, TX –

Sujata Dand, KERA News: Dallas County Commissioner Ken Mayfield lobbied state health officials yesterday requesting additional funds for residential treatment for children addicted to cheese. Cheese is a cheap and highly addictive street drug concoction of black tar heroin and cold medication.In the last 18 months, more than 2 dozen children in Dallas county have died after overdosing on the drug.

Ken Mayfield, Dallas County: Commissioner You can not treat those with this heroin addiction in their home, in the community, in their neighborhood. They need to be isolated, they need to undergo the treatment that's available in order to rid themselves of this addiction.

Dand: Mayfield says the additional 410 thousand dollars provided by the state will be used to double the number of beds to 100 in the county's three licensed residential treatment facilities. Meanwhile, the county continues to look for additional resources to counter-act this drug epidemic. Sujata Dand, for KERA News.