U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Hinsdale, will host a Heroin Education and Prevention Forum to address the growing problem of teen heroin use in suburban Chicago.
Biggert will host the forum from 7 to 9PM Mon., July 16 in North Central College’s Wentz Concert Hall at the Fine Arts Center, 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville.
Local law enforcement officers, educators and health experts will provide information for parents and discuss the rise of heroin use among suburban youth. Scheduled presenters include Celeste Napier, a professor in the Department of Pharmacology at Rush University and director of the Research and Recovery Center for Compulsive Behaviors and Addiction; Owen Putnam, an agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; John Roberts, who cofounded the group Heroin Epidemic Relief Organization (HERO) after losing his son, Billy, to heroin; and Bill Patrianakos, a HERO board member and recovering addict.
The evening will include a panel discussion featuring DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin; Kathleen Burke, chief executive officer of the Robert Crown Center for Health Education; and Pam Witt, a school counselor at Neuqua Valley High School.
Heroin use has become a major issue in the suburbs, following the deaths of seven young people in the Naperville area in the past year.
