For many, the word heroin conjures up an image of a tattered, homeless junkie lying on a needle-strewn sidewalk in the inner city.
But experts say that over the past few years, that image is changing, as heroin is becoming the drug of choice for many suburban teens who don’t recognize the stigma – or the harm – associated with the dangerous narcotic.
And authorities say Darien, as well as other communities throughout DuPage County, has been seeing an increase in heroin use among teens.
To alert the public to the growing problem of teen heroin use in suburban Chicago, U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert will host a free heroin education and prevention forum from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, July 16, at North Central College’s Wentz Hall, 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville.
The forum will feature presentations by representatives of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Robert Crown Center for Health Education and the Center for Compulsive Behavior and Addiction at Rush University Medical Center.
Monday’s event will also feature personal narratives, including a presentation by John Roberts, who lost of his son to a heroin overdose. Following the tragedy, Roberts launched a local non-profit, Heroin Epidemic Relief Organization (HERO), which provides families with prevention, intervention and support services. Bill Patrianakos, a recovering heroin addict who serves on the board of HERO, will also share his own story of recovery.
“Heroin use among kids has taken an alarming turn, and for many parents, it’s not a drug we’re used to watching out for,” said Biggert in a press release promoting the forum. “One drug-related death is one too many. And experts agree that the most important weapon we have in this battle is prevention.”
DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin, who will join law enforcement and health care professionals at the forum, shares Biggert’s concern about the increase in heroin use among teens.
“According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2011, more than 90,000 people over the age of 12 tried heroin for the first time,” Berlin said. “It would be incredibly naïve of us to think that none of those 90,000 first-time users live in our communities. Only through education can we prevent our children from becoming one of those 90,000 first-time users.”
Heroin use hits close to home
Darien Chief of Police Ernest Brown said the city has recently experienced two fatal overdoses and “a number of” non-fatal overdoses.
“What is critical to note is that in the world of risk management, it is those non fatal or un-reported near-misses that really foretell the underlying extent or scope of the problem,” Brown said. “Since heroin use seems to be on the rise among adults, it is a natural extension to see a rise in its use among young people.”
Brown said that although local police have not established a definitive set of factors to explain heroin’s rise in popularity among young people, the very nature of the drug may lend to its increased use.
The chief lists the following factors that may contribute to the increasing heroin use by area teens:
- Ease of concealment
- Multiple methods of use as opposed to other drugs
- Potential use in conjunction with lacing or simultaneous use with other drugs
- Not easily detected
- Expense (cost)
But, Brown warned, there are some inherent dangers in heroin use that should outweigh the factors listed above, such as:
- The drug is frequently “cut” with unknown agents, such as fentanyl
- Heroin becomes debilitating over time
- The drug is physiologically addictive
- Varying strengths of the drug can cause overdose
Parents who worry their teen may be using heroin should be on the lookout for the following trouble signs, Brown said:
- Changes in behavior
- Disregard for social activities or friends that they previously regarded highly
- Falling grades
- Disinterest in appearances
- Overly secretive
- Changes in eating or dietary habits
Although parents who recognize these so-called trouble signs in their sons and daughters may simply be witnessing fairly typical teen behavior, Brown recommends that parents take a few extra precautions to be sure their kids are not using illicit drugs.
“The best way to know is to monitor,” said Brown. “Monitor friends, monitor emails, monitor comings and goings, search their personal belongings. Look for straws, empty packets or balloons, tin foil or other odd paper or packaging items that are unfamiliar to you -- and specifically pay attention to new friends and personality shifts.”
Parents who educate themselves on the warning signs of teen heroin abuse can act as the first line of defense, before law enforcement officials are forced to intervene.
“We recognize an increase (in heroin use by teens), but it is difficult to numerically quantify the increase, because police officers frequently don’t receive overdose information,” said Brown. “Often times, the kids who use are able to remain under police radar unless they are encountered for some other circumstance.”
That circumstance could be as ordinary as a police traffic stop -- or as devastating as a drug overdose.