My mom and I were just chatting on the phone, when she heard on the news a disturbing discovery about “Cheese” heroin.

By using the name “cheese,” drug dealers are marketing the low-grade heroin to a younger crowd — many of them middle schoolers — unaware of its potential dangers, authorities say.

For only $2 a hit, a kid can get a lethal dose of heroin mixed with downers like you would find in over the counter sleep aids. The interaction of the two drugs brings one’s body functions down so low that it is nearly impossible NOT to die. The drug is snorted like cocaine. At least 21 people have died from using “cheese” since 2005.

One of the father’s spoke up about his 15 year old who died using the drug. He thinks it was his fault for not talking to his kid more about the dangers of drug use. I don’t see it that way. If I tell my son not to go in the refrigerator because there is an alligator in it that will gobble him whole if he does, and he decides to go in there anyway it’s not my fault. I warned him. I told him of the danger. He chose to do what he wanted and suffered the consequences for his actions. As a parent, you can only teach your child about the dangers of the world then pray that they heed your advice. They have free will and can decide whether or not to do what they have been taught is right. It’s a harsh reality, but it’s what we all have to live with.

I feel badly for the parents of the kids who have died at the hands of this menace. I hope that schools and parents can launch an effective attack against the drug before more children die.