Anti-heroin ad wins award
A television advertisement created by the Illinois State Crime Commission and Karl Productions about heroin abuse has won an award, officials announced. The piece, called "Heroin Swing Set," has won a Telly Award. The national prize honors outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs.
The public service announcement depicts a young teen conducting an online search for "customers," highlighting a trend that young teens, hooked on heroin, are turning to selling the last thing they posses - their own bodies.
Heroin deaths continue to increase in the suburbs and throughout Illinois.
In Cook County, the medical examiner's office says heroin in 2013 accounted for 224 deaths, or 60 percent of the 377 total opiate-linked deaths.
In DuPage County, west of Chicago, heroin deaths that numbered in the 20s each year from 2007 through 2011 spiked to 43 in 2012 and 46 last year, said Jorgensen, a surgeon who took office in December 2012.
The number of accidental heroin-related deaths statewide climbed from 95 in 2008 to 140 by 2010, the last year such totals are available, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
"No matter what it costs, the Illinois State Crime Commission will assist law enforcement in tracking down these predators of our children," crime commission Executive Director Jerry Elsner said in a news release. "Winning this recognition is great, because it brings much-needed attention to this issue and saving our children."
The Illinois State Crime Commission is headquartered in Oak Brook.
Heroin in the suburbs
More than a decade ago, the Daily Herald launched a series called the "Hidden Scourge" in an effort to address the problem of heroin addiction in the suburbs. In the years since our first series of extensive reports on the effects of heroin on lives in the suburbs, the deadly addiction has grown relentlessly more visible. We continue to be dedicated to spotlighting the problem. To see our coverage of all stories involving heroin in the suburbs, see <a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/topics/heroin/">http://www.dailyherald.com/topics/heroin/</a>