Buffalo Grove forum to address rise in heroin use

In the last few years, there's been a spike in heroin use across the Northwest suburbs.

Area treatment facilities have waiting lists, and the village of Buffalo Grove, for example, now averages one heroin overdose death per year, with victims ranging in age from 18 to mid-40s.

To help educate people about what's going on in the community, a forum is being planned at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7 in the Buffalo Grove High School theater, 1100 W. Dundee Road.

Drug use in the area - in particular, heroin - will be the topic. It's open to parents, students or anyone else who wants to listen in or ask questions. Admission is free.

Speakers will include members of Metropolitan Enforcement Group, or MEG, a multijurisdictional police agency that does undercover work in the area; drug abuse treatment experts; and counselors from both Stevenson and Buffalo Grove high schools.

The forum is being organized by both schools, the Buffalo Grove Safety Partnership and the Buffalo Grove Police Department.

"We'd like to tell parents and students what's going on," said Buffalo Grove Police Cmdr. Steve Husak. "Some people say I'd like my teenager to hear this, and some prefer they don't. But students are welcome."

A similar forum held in June drew more than 100 people. Speakers included employees from the coroner's office, the crime lab and other experts. This week's forum is a follow-up to the June forum, and will address some of the questions raised, such as what the schools are doing to address this problem.

One more forum is planned at Stevenson High School in the spring.

Husak said these forums are part of a regional effort to increase awareness and understanding about illicit drug activity and its consequences to parents of high school-aged students.

An RSVP is requested, but not required. Call (847) 459-2560 or e-mail Cmdr. Steve Husak at shusak@vbg.org.