Program Tackles Naperville's Growing Heroin Use

More than a week after a Naperville teen was charged with dealing heroin, announcements went out Thursday to families in both and about a program being held Monday to inform parents about the use of heroin in the community.

Districts 203 and 204 sent the joint message to families in both districts requesting that parents be part of the conversation, the message said the focus of the meeting would be drugs in the community.

The program titled: “The Rising Tide of Heroin Abuse in Naperville” is being sponsored by the  in cooperation with the DuPage Child Abuse Prevention Coalition, the  and the Naperville Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 42.

In 2011, there were seven deaths from Heroin overdoses and many more people who were treated at , according to officials. Two other programs focusing on heroin use have been held to discuss the problem, including a program held at Edward Hospital. 

The program being held at the at 7 p.m. Feb. 13 was planned for some time, but follows who was charged with dealing heroin, after police observed the student in the middle of a transaction.

The presenters for the program will be Naperville Police Department detectives Shaun Ferguson and Mike Umbenhower, and Kimberly Groll, a drug and alcohol addictions counselor. 

At a , Ferguson and Umbenhower detailed how often teens begin the journey into drug use right in their own homes, experimenting with prescription medications that belong to parents. Other times the use of marijuana is a gateway drug to heroin. In other situations, friends may share the drug with teens who have no idea they are being given heroin, some believe they are snorting cocaine only to find out that it was heroin.

In November, roughly 50 people gathered at the event held at Edward Hospital.

District 204 Superintendent Kathy Birkett, District 203 Superintendent Mark Mitrovich and said in the joint statement released Thursday, “We need parents to be part of the discussion. We encourage you to hear for yourself how substance abuse affects the whole community, listen to the facts regarding what is happening in our own backyards, and most importantly, learn how to keep your child safe.”