Tough questions to ask about heroin

It's cheaper than a six pack of beer and no ID, fake or otherwise, is required.

Like generations before, teens and young adults believe they're invincible. They aren't afraid they'll get hooked. They don't believe they'll die. And parents are tricking themselves into believing their children won't succumb.

And so, in numbers greater than ever before, heroin has a hold on suburban teens and young adults, shows a study released this week by Roosevelt University. It's killing them, destroying scores of families and eating at the fabric of our communities.

The study of heroin use in Illinois from 1998 to 2008 showed Chicago and the suburbs might have the worst heroin addiction in America.

Death by heroin is up 130 percent in Lake County, has risen 150 percent in three years in McHenry and has doubled in two years in Will. Suburban and city hospital emergency rooms treated 50 percent more people for heroin abuse in this region than were treated in New York City. The majority of teens discharged from hospitals after heroin treatment are from the suburbs. In 2007, the study showed, 12 percent of those discharged were from Chicago, 25 percent were from suburban Cook and 38 percent were from the collar counties.

We've shed light on this problem before. In 2001 and 2002, our initial "Hidden Scourge" investigation of suburban heroin use showed how the drug was so cheap and so pure that it was killing our children. We revisited the problem late last year. A small but lethal amount still can be bought for $10. Teens and young adults still can snort it rather than inject themselves.

At the same time, resources devoted to treatment and to tackling the scourge are shrinking. Among the victims of the lack of real solutions to the state budget mess are drug addiction treatment facilities and the people who devote their lives to helping others overcome addiction.

Will we all just let this scourge continue to spiral out of control and kill our children? Or will we confront it as individuals and as a community? Have we talked to our children about the dangers of this drug? Is there more educating about its dangers to do in our schools and at other places where children gather? Are we doing all we can to monitor them? Or do we still fool ourselves into thinking this problem will not touch us or anyone we love? Has each of us done all we can to demand tough solutions to the state funding crisis that might free up more treatment money?

Of course, treatment after the fact is difficult. Heroin's hold is so strong that we learned it can take many, many failures and relapses before success. The best, most-sound solution lies in doing all we can imagine to make sure no one we love ever experiments with the hidden scourge called heroin. Its heartache knows no end.