Forum to Confront Heroin Scourge

The deadly impact of heroin on the area has prompted officials to organize a day-long educational forum at Lewis University, Will County Communications Director Anastasia Tuskey told the board this week.

Tuskey explained to the board how Will County Executive Larry Walsh was at a Homer Glen rally last year when he was moved by the stories of two fathers who lost their sons to heroin.

Walsh, Will County Health Department officials and others then worked together to organize the April 13 forum and youth rally at Lewis' JFK Sports Center in Romeoville.

The two groups Heroin Epidemic Relief Organization and Will County Heroin Education Leads to Preventative Solutions are presenting the event.

For more information, go to HeroHelpsEvent.org.

Tuskey said 30 deaths were attributed to heroin use in 2011 and eight more were recorded in the first weeks of this year.

After hearing from Tuskey, Mayor Rick Chapman volunteered for training so that he could speak to school children about the dangers of heroin use.

"The ignorance out there about all this is amazing," Chapman said.

"It's a very important issue," he said, "because it won't come home to you until it comes home to you."