Heroin panel approved by House
SPRINGFIELD — A suburban lawmaker’s proposal to address the state’s youth heroin epidemic passed in the Illinois House on a vote of 79-28 Friday.
State Rep. Sam Yingling, a Round Lake Beach Democrat, penned the proposal that would create a youth heroin task force.
The task force, made up of lawmakers, would seek ways the state can act to curb rates of young people overdosing on heroin, which have increased dramatically in recent years.
“I was shocked to hear about the dangerous increase in heroin abuse in suburban schools, because with a drug this deadly, a single student using it a single time is too much,” Yingling said.
Before the vote, state Rep. Dennis Reboletti, an Elmhurst Republican, asked Yingling why the task force is currently set up to have four Democrats and three Republicans.
The legislation now moves to the Illinois Senate, and Yingling said he would consider changing the committee to have an even number of members if senators want him to.