Heroin Forums to Address Growing Problem in Lake County

The Lake County Sheriff's Office will be hosting five drug forums in coming weeks with the first being held Tuesday in Fox Lake. 

The forums are meant to address a growing problem with drug use, in particular, heroin, in Lake County, said Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran in a video posted on the sheriff's office website. 

Curran said heroin was the biggest contributor to overdose deaths in the past year. 

In 2012, there were 32 deaths in Lake County related to heroin, according to a video posted on the sheriff's office website. Of those, 17 were 30 years old or younger. 

Dale Novarro, of the Lake County Sheriff's Office, speaks in the video of how his son battled with heroin addiction and how, even as a law enforcement official, he "missed all the telltale signs" of his son's drug use at first. 

At the forums, sheriff's office employees will talk about how drug use has affected their families and what the sheriff's office doing out on the street. At the forum,  residents will learn more about the drugs, why they are so dangerous, and will get information resources available for those battling addiction, Curran said in the video. 

Here is a list of where and when the forums will be held: 

• Sept. 10: Fox Lake Library, 255 E. Grand Ave. in Fox Lake, 6:30 p.m.
• Sept. 12: Greenbilt Cultural Center, 1215 N. Green Bay Road in North Chicago, 6:30 p.m.
  Sept. 16: College of Lake County, 
• Sept. 16: College of Lake County, 19351 W. Washington St. in Grayslake,  6:30 p.m. 
  Sept. 23: ELA Area Public Library, 
• Sept. 23: ELA Area Public Library,  275 Mohawk Trail in Lake Zurich, 6:30 p.m.
  Sept. 25: Vernon Area Public Library, 
• Sept. 25: Vernon Area Public Library, 300 Olde Half Day Road in Lincolnshire, 6:30 p.m.