He says that almost 400 people have died from heroin problems over the past three years. If you've been watching the moves of DuPage County elected officials, they've been moving on this problem for a bit now. DuPage Chairman Dan Cronin - along with Senator Kirk - is out in front of the heroin problem. Glad to see their leadership on the issue.
From his Senate site, he says that 'heroin is killing our suburbs'. He wants to nip this in the bud before it truly explodes and begins to erode our communities. We applaud Senator Mark Kirk for tackling this tough issue.
- Since 2012, heroin has taken a life every 3 days in Chicago’s suburbs. Though heroin is not often considered a serious concern for suburban parents, statistics show the epidemic is quickly growing.
- Heroin users frequently say the gateway to their drug addiction was taking a friend or relative's prescription drugs. In fact, nearly one-third of people aged 12 and over who used drugs for the first time in 2009 began by using a prescription drug recreationally. Enough prescription painkillers were prescribed in 2010 to medicate every adult American around-the-clock for a month.
- Opiods and Heroin are so highly addictive because the brain quickly develops a tolerance to the drug and requires higher and higher doses to achieve the same intensity. This frequently leads to overdoses.
- Cheaper than cigarettes and more accessible than alcohol, heroin has become a plague on our suburbs.
Find out more at: http://www.kirk.senate.gov/heroin/
