Learn secrets of club drugs, officer says
Editor's note: This story originally ran on March 8, 2002 as part of the Daily Herald's "Hidden Scourge: Heroin in the Suburbs" series.
With a pacifier on a multicolored plastic necklace dangling from his raised arm, police Sgt. Bruce Talbot declared it part of today's hidden drug paraphernalia that often goes undetected in schools.
Talbot, of the Woodridge Police Department, has seen people naively shrug off the necklaces as a teen fad, including one he noticed a girl wearing at his daughter's high school swim meet.
Before a room full of Northwest suburban educators, police officers, counselors and paramedics, Talbot recommended the necklaces join the list of drug paraphernalia banned in schools. Baby pacifiers and suckers are used to combat the jaw-clenching effect of the amphetamine Ecstasy.
About 80 people attended "A Frontline View of Club Drugs" presentation Thursday at Kenneth Young Center, 1001 Rohlwing Road, Elk Grove Village.
Talbot armed the group with information about the club drug scene, calling teen clubs the new "opium dens."
Information about the drugs that have seeped into the club and rave scenes is key to stopping overdoses, Talbot said.
After nearly two decades of patrolling the streets in Woodridge, Talbot discovered that more education and training were needed after two club drug-related deaths in Naperville and Lisle.
Sara Aeschlimann, 18, died in Naperville in 2000 after swallowing six times the lethal limit of PMA, a toxic look-alike hallucinogen that she mistook for Ecstasy. Jason Burnett, 20, of Lisle, died a few weeks later after also mistaking that deadly drug for Ecstasy.
Their deaths motivated Talbot to educate the public and teens about these drugs.
Talbot also talked about a Woodridge man who doused himself with gasoline and lit himself on fire, knowing exactly what fate he would meet. Teens taking the pills, however, often have no idea what they are taking and what effects they will have, he explained.
"When 18-year-old Sara swallowed those pills, she didn't know that she was literally burning herself to death. That's the difference," Talbot said.
Professionals at Talbot's presentation believe the information will help them confront the increasing problem.
Issamary Rosiles, a bilingual prevention specialist at Elgin's Renz Prevention Center, recently spoke to middle school students who were asking her about club drugs.
"They're not using, but they're aware," Rosiles said. "And if they're aware, they're curious."
Jacquese Gilbert, an assistant principal of discipline at Fremd High School in Palatine, said she came to the presentation to get more information in case the issue comes up at the high school.
"I think the bottom line is just awareness," Gilbert said. "More than anything, this seminar is going to give us a proactive stance."