Will County heroin overdose deaths on pace to beat 2012’s record year

LOCKPORT – A glass plaque with the well-known “Serenity Prayer” rested gently against Amie Toste’s kitchen window, a silent reminder for the recovering heroin addict to stay the course when life doesn’t go her way.

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference,” the plaque reads.

“It’s about understanding what you can and cannot do and leaving the rest to God,” said Toste, 38, of Lockport. “I walk around saying it every day.”

Although sober for two years, Toste and her longtime boyfriend, Toby Hicks, are no strangers to heroin’s fatal grip. Before entering treatment in 2013, Hicks nearly died from a drug overdose. The 40-year-old wouldn’t be alive if first responders had not revived him using Narcan – a nasal spray that reverses the effects of an opiate overdose.

“It saved my life,” Hicks said.

The couple’s story is similar to that of numerous other families in Will County who have come face-to-face with the deadly drug.

Thirty-six people have died so far in 2015 in Will County from heroin overdoses, with two additional deaths under investigation, according to the Will County Coroner’s Office.

It’s a statistic no one wants to beat, but Will County Coroner Patrick O’Neil said the county in 2015 likely will outpace 2012’s record of 53 deaths. It raises the question of whether the county is seeing a resurgence in heroin use after two straight years of declining fatalities in 2013 and 2014.

It’s an epidemic many hoped to see wane with concerted efforts by local and state officials to educate communities about the dangers of the addictive drug and opiate prescription medications, which are often the gateway to heroin.

Over the years, the problem has gained attention thanks to the creation of groups like the Heroin Epidemic Relief Organization, or HERO, along with educational forums, public awareness events and support groups designed to bring together family members who have lost loved ones.

“There’s no rhyme or reason with this drug. The old philosophy was that it was a big-city problem, but it’s not. This is a problem that remains and hits small communities and the suburbs,” O’Neil said.

In one of the more recent deaths, a 35-year-old Joliet man overdosed Aug. 29 from a combined drug intoxication that included acetyl fentanyl – a lethally potent heroin substitute. It marks Will County’s first reported death involving this form of the drug, which concerns O’Neil.

“[Acetyl fentanyl] is five times more powerful than what’s on the street right now,” O’Neil said. “If it’s any indication of what’s out there, we may end up dealing with a monumental rash of more fatalities.”

Hicks said despite the recent decline in Will County deaths, heroin is an epidemic that never really went away – just as someone’s personal battle with heroin is an ongoing struggle.

“People say, ‘Oh yeah, you’ve been clean for two years,’ but there’s still a lot going on. There’s still a lot left to learn about ourselves,” he said.

A battle on all fronts

With the epidemic far from over, state and local officials continue the aggressive battle against heroin on all fronts.

That includes lawmakers' recent decision to override Gov. Bruce Rauner's veto of landmark anti-heroin legislation, stepping up education and prevention efforts and equipping law enforcement officials with the heroin overdose antidote known as Narcan.

The long-championed bill creates a heroin and opiate prevention program for public schools statewide, makes Narcan more widely available, prevents the over-prescription of pain medication and reduces insurance claim denials for those being treated for substance abuse.

But the lack of a state budget, coupled with relentless funding cuts year after year, is leaving its mark on recovery centers' ability to quell the growing addiction problem.

It’s an “awful situation” to be in, said Peter McLenighan, executive director of Stepping Stones in Joliet, where Hicks and Toste sought treatment two years ago.

Recovery centers statewide are being forced to dip into cash reserves and pull from lines of credit to maintain services levels, "trusting that the Legislature will not let this stand" much longer, McLenighan said.

For the 650 people annually served at Stepping Stones, there’s twice as many who seek services but never receive them. About 21 percent of those treated at the center are battling heroin addictions, compared to 12 percent in 2009.

Though no budget is in place, McLenighan received a state contract earlier this year calling for a 38.5 percent reduction in funding for Stepping Stones – or about $389,000 less than the previous year. State monetary support has dropped from $1.2 million in 2008 to $970,000 in 2014, according to Stepping Stones data.

There’s a three-to-four-week waiting list for the center’s most intensive residential services, but that likely will rise if the budget impasse is not resolved quickly. McLenighan knows of at least three people who have died of overdoses while awaiting services in his 30-plus years in the business. But he said he’s certain there are more.

“The families are just devastated by this. We’ve literally had the mom call and say, ‘Cancel the appointment for my daughter because she overdosed,’” McLenighan said. “It changes their lives forever.”

While the number of people requiring heroin treatment is reaching historic highs nationally, Illinois treatment admissions for heroin are significantly higher than the country as a whole, according to an August 2015 report from the Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy at Roosevelt University in Chicago.

Yet Illinois ranked first in the U.S. for decline in treatment capacity between 2007 and 2012, according to the report, titled "Diminishing Capacity: The Heroin Crisis and Illinois Treatment in National Perspective."

Waking up on death’s doorstep

Law enforcement agencies across Will County are now trained to administer the heroin overdose antidote Narcan, which reverses the effects of an overdose by restoring the victim’s breathing – if administered in time.

The use of Narcan remains controversial. Critics say it encourages drug use but supporters argue it gives drug users a second chance at life if they choose to seek help.

“Abstinence is the goal but we want to keep them alive long enough to find sobriety,” McLenighan said.

Joliet Deputy Police Chief Edgar Gregory said officers saved two Joliet men's lives in the past month by administering Narcan. But it's up to the user to decide whether to seek treatment.

“You hope they get treatment,” Gregory said. “You hope it serves as a wake-up call.”

McLenighan and other addiction treatment experts are applauding lawmakers’ decision this month to override the governor’s veto of House Bill 1, also known as the Heroin Crisis Act.

Those seeking treatment may now find it easier to get health insurance to cover the costs for therapy and medication, due to the bipartisan effort by lawmakers to overwhelmingly reject Rauner’s veto.

While it’s a drug that knows no bounds, O’Neil said the bright side is that the number of teen heroin deaths in Will County has decreased dramatically – from 15 to four between 2012 and 2014 – thanks to efforts to educate high school students about the dangers of heroin abuse in the area.

‘I hope it’s possible’

Toste’s and Hicks’ road to recovery – backdropped by a decades-long family cycle of drug addiction – has not been easy, but the couple is deep within the recovery process and frequently works with other addicts to aid their own recovery.

“What addiction does to you is it takes your mental, spiritual and physical self so far apart. Recovery makes that whole,” Toste said. “Being so involved like we are now, sponsoring people and having sponsors, there’s a difference in just being sober and being in recovery.”

With five children at home – including an 18-year-old son who knows what track marks look like and is well aware of the couple’s battle with heroin – Hicks and Toste know there’s much at stake.

“When you’re an addict, you don’t mean to take away innocence from your kids but you end up exposing them to stuff you can’t take back,” Toste said.

With tears in her eyes, she recalled a recent conversation with Hicks.

“I looked at Toby and asked, ‘Is it possible for us to not have drug addicts as kids?’” she said. “I hope it’s possible.’”

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BY THE NUMBERS
Fatal heroin overdose deaths in Will County

2015 — 36 (as of Sept. 23, 2015)
2014 – 35
2013 – 38
2012 – 53
2011 – 30
2010 – 26

Source: Will County Coroner’s Office