Horrible life tale might lead some to better choices

On today's front page is the raw and tragic, but compelling, story of Jon Dennison, 21, a heroin abuser.

It's not the most flattering profile of this young man, who's spent time in jail, has seen friends die from the drug, yet continues to use even after four stints in rehab.

Marie Wilson, who wrote the story, told Dennison how he was portrayed. He didn't flinch, said it was fine if he was portrayed as a loser. And if that's the impression readers walk away with, that's the point. Hence, his naked candor.

“He's telling the story of his heroin use and his mistakes straight up so people can see how horrible of a life it is,” Wilson says, “and so they can realize one simple choice can help them avoid it: Never try heroin.”

It really was that simple. “Once the needle hit the vein, it was over from there,” Dennison tells Wilson. “As soon as I felt the heroin hit my system and as soon as I got high, I kind of knew it was something I was always going to do.”

Why are we telling you this sad, depressing tale?

Heroin for many years was the drug of the inner-city poor. Its use slowly spread to the suburbs, and we addressed that trend in 2001 in a yearlong project called the “Hidden Scourge.”

Just two years ago, DuPage County set a record for heroin-related deaths, a mark that was shattered again in 2013. Alarmed by the numbers, Coroner Richard Jorgensen began sounding the alarm about the problem, pointing out that roughly three people per month were dying from heroin in one of the nation's most affluent and educated counties. Not insignificantly, some vestiges of the hidden scourge remained. Jorgensen said he met some initial resistance when he began crusading for high-level summits, education and other measures to combat heroin: Some people in high places, he said, denied there was a problem.

An in-depth interview with Jorgensen by staffer Jessica Cilella is our second-day story in our ongoing series.

We call it: Through their eyes.

The concept is pretty simple: DuPage Editor Bob Smith, who is in charge of the project, met with Cilella and Wilson. “We agreed pretty quickly we would try to tackle the subject through the eyes of some of the people involved,” Smith said. “Choosing Jorgensen was easy because he had played such an important role in bringing the extent of the heroin problem to the public's attention. After that we talked about others involved — addicts, cops, doctors, educators, parents.”

It took no small amount of persistence by Wilson in tracking down Jon Dennison. But the initial contact came some months ago from his mother, who said her son was in rehab but wanted to tell the story of his addiction in hopes of helping others. At this point, Dennison already had witnessed the deaths of several friends, including his girlfriend.

It took four attempts, but eventually the subject and the reporter met in a Starbucks near the courthouse in Wheaton. He described the pain of losing someone so close, but how that also was immersed in the throes of his drug use.

“When it very first happens, you're in so much pain that all you can think about is using more heroin,” he said. “Even though they died from the very same thing you're going to use to cure the feelings you get from them dying.”

More to come.

jdavis@dailyherald.com