Some sad stories must constantly be repeated

For more than two years early in the decade we've just completed, the Daily Herald conducted a strong, sustained crusade against drug use. Beginning with a package of stories under the heading "Hidden Scourge: Heroin and club drugs in the suburbs," we produced an ongoing series of reports profiling the lives of individuals who died because of drug use, telling the encouraging stories of some individuals who overcame their addictions and frequently highlighting agencies and services where addicts or their loved ones could get help.

We believed and we dearly hoped that our stories made a difference for some readers. Perhaps the stories persuaded some people against experimenting with a dangerous activity. Maybe they alerted parents and our communities to the reality - and depth - of the problem, even in the most unexpected of families or circumstances. At minimum, they let people know that help is available and how to find it.

But at some point, we had to let the topic rest, admit that the series had run its course and move on to other things.

Yet, in the last couple of weeks - years since our last story in that series was published - we've had some powerful reminders why some crusades never really run their course and can't be permitted ever to end completely.

Jamie Sotonoff's three-day package of stories just before the Christmas holidays had an all-too-familiar ring. A "typical" suburban family that doesn't fit the drug-abuse stereotype. Kids who showed no signs of trouble. Experimenting that got out of hand. Months and years of struggle and heartache - and inevitable tragedy.

In her first installment, Sotonoff told the story of four friends who got into trouble with heroin. Two died. One still struggles with addiction and the law. Only one has gotten clean.

A week and a half later, drug addiction was a key theme in a package of stories on suburban homelessness by senior news editor Teresa Schmedding. Schmedding set out to tell how a promising young couple and their two children slid into poverty and homelessness. Along the way, the husband became addicted to heroin, but his story took a happier turn. Through the forgiveness and persistence of his wife and other family members and his own eventual religious epiphany, the Glen Ellyn man got himself clean and is working to rebuild his life with his wife and children.

The two separate series provided an important review of the issues we hit so hard and constantly in the original "Hidden Scourge" stories. Heroin use is more commonplace in the suburbs than we expect - as is homelessness, for that matter. The drug is cheap, accessible, pernicious, brutal, family- and life-destroying. Prevention is its best defense, but it can be overcome.

During the original series, I wrote that we were pressing the issue so hard because it was the only way we knew to use our strengths to fight a true scourge in our midst. I acknowledged that, even at the risk of making the issue appear routine, it was important for us to repeat the theme to keep awareness high. Those statements still stand.

We are not now publishing a story on the destructive nature of drugs every couple of weeks or months as we once did, but as Sotonoff's and Schmedding's stories showed, that doesn't mean the problem is solved. Far from it. Sadly, it's one that will still need repeating occasionally for a long time to come.

• Jim Slusher, jslusher@dailyherald.com, is an assistant managing editor at the Daily Herald.