advertisement

Leaders push for expansion of overdose-reversal drug

As suburban communities look to battle the problem of heroin abuse on all fronts, health and law enforcement leaders say they're working to build greater awareness of a drug that can counteract the effects of an overdose.

It's called Narcan or Naloxone, and it works by reviving receptors in the brain that are “put to sleep” by opiates such as heroin, Karen Ayala, executive director of the DuPage County Health Department, said Monday during a forum hosted by staff members of U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, a Naperville Democrat.

“It absolutely brings someone back to life who is on the verge of death,” Ayala said during the discussion at Community Christian Church in Naperville.

The DuPage County Health Department is working to train roughly 1,200 police officers to use Narcan in a nasal spray form, but others at the forum said the drug's availability to the public should be expanded as well.

“Most people aren't aware of Naloxone and what it can do,” said Jim Scarpace, program director at Gateway Foundation Alcohol & Drug Treatment in Aurora. “It's something we feel strongly about supporting because we know the benefit of being able to administer it and its ability to save lives.”

Narcan is legal and can be administered to heroin overdose victims by anyone — even those without medical training — under a state law that took effect in 2010. It can be injected into muscle or inhaled as a nasal spray.

Scarpace said the overdose reversal drug does not create a high and is nonaddictive. It works to reverse the effects of overdoses on all drugs classified as opioids, which includes some types of prescription painkillers.

Karen Hanneman of Naperville said she encourages parents to get trained to administer Narcan and have it on hand, especially if their children are struggling with drug addiction, like her son did. She said the Chicago Recovery Alliance and Stonybrook Center in Wheaton are among area organizations that offer such training.

“It's a very sensible thing to have,” Hanneman said about the drug. “If you have a loved one that struggles with opiate addiction in your house, you need to have it.”

Hanneman's son, Justin Tokar, died in January 2011 of a heroin overdose when he was 21.

“We want to tell them to just stop using, and with opiate addiction, that's not an option,” she said.

Last year, a record 46 people died from heroin overdoses in DuPage County.

Heroin comes to the county, and to the suburban area as a whole, from Chicago, where gangs get it from Mexican drug cartels, said Mark Piccoli, director of the DuPage Metropolitan Enforcement Group, a countywide agency that combats drug trafficking.

Although Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, leader of the largest drug cartel in Mexico, was arrested over the weekend, Piccoli said he expects the drug will continue to flow into Chicago and the suburbs.

“We're facing an epidemic of heroin abuse,” said Maria DeLeon, outreach director for Foster's office. “We need to grow resources to combat the problem.”

  Jim Scarpace, program director at Gateway Foundation Alcohol & Drug Treatment in Aurora, right, speaks Monday in Naperville during a panel about heroin abuse and the drug that can reverse the effects of an overdose. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
  Karen Hanneman of Naperville, whose son, Justin Tokar, died of a heroin overdose in January 2011 when he was 21, says parents should get training in how to use Narcan, a drug that can reverse the effects of a heroin overdose. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
  DuPage County health and law enforcement leaders address members of the public Monday morning in Naperville during a panel hosted by the office of U.S. Rep. Bill Foster about the heroin problem and a drug that can be used to reverse the effects of an overdose. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
  Maria DeLeon, outreach director for the office of U.S. Rep. Bill Foster of Naperville, leads a panel discussion Monday morning about heroin and a drug called Narcan that can be used to reverse the effects of a heroin overdose. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.