Will County Experts: Heroin Has Become a Public Health Crisis

Will County public officials spoke at Romeoville High School last week at a community heroin forum hosted by Valley View School District 365U and Will County HELPS.

In 1998, Will County officials were surprised if they saw one or two deaths from heroin overdoses, Will County Coroner Pat O’Neil told those gathered for a community forum on heroin Nov. 14.  Now Will County is on track to have 48 deaths from heroin overdoses in 2012. It’s a heroin epidemic, Will County officials said. A public health crisis. Heroin is in your community. It’s readily available. It's very powerful, very addictive and incredibly dangerous. It’s cheap and easy to get. Several circumstances have occurred to create a “perfect storm” for the heroin epidemic, Nash said, and he expects it to get worse. “The holidays in regards to heroin are quite grim,” Nash said. “It’s not unusual to lose six or seven people (to heroin overdoses…

•  3 Comments
• Photos (1)