"Once They Get That First Hit, They're Going To Chase It Forever." WILMINGTON - It's called "chasing the dragon." "Once they get that first hit, they're going to chase it forever," noted local Deputy Police Chief Michael Boyle. "And then they'll try even more. Maybe start out with snorting it, then go to shooting it to get more of a high. "That's why they go to different levels and different drugs. They're chasing that dragon - they're going after that feeling ... again and again." [continues 938 words]
WILMINGTON - Local police chief, Lt. Wally Evans, believes the community should face head-on its serious problem with illicit drugs. "You can either lay it out and attack it, or hide your head in the sand and let it build," he said Wednesday. "It's in every step of society. So, if a community is going to say it doesn't have a problem it does have a problem." The drive to do something about the growing problem of illicit drugs in the community, including crack cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl-laced heroin, began when Deputy Chief Michael Boyle came out of management to work the streets again, and found a drug problem existed in the school system. [continues 470 words]
Just a little grain of fentanyl ... or two ... or three ... will do it. The small amount of fentanyl it takes to kill a person can be likened to a grain of salt, noted Dr. Ben Johnston, emergency room physician at Morris Hospital & Healthcare Centers. "Imagine one grain of salt and three grains of salt being the difference between life and death," he said Tuesday, during a news conference by Grundy County Coroner John Callahan in the wake of two heroin-related deaths this past week. [continues 827 words]
Drug Czar Addresses Educators, Law Enforcers JOLIET -- Admitting the problem is the biggest issue America has in the war on illicit drugs, noted national drug czar John Walters. "The biggest enemy we have here is cynicism," said Walter, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, in speaking before a select group of law enforcement officials and educators in the 11th Congressional District. "We know we need to control both supply and demand of drugs. Prevention is the key." [continues 999 words]
Say Money Necessary To Continue Drug Fight Cuts proposed in federal money to help fight methamphetamine will make it more difficult to punch a hole in the drug-cycle system, Grundy County State's Attorney Sheldon Sobol said. "The fact of the matter is, we've got a real drug problem, not only in Grundy County, but in this country," he said Monday, during a press conference in Morris in which Congress was urged to reinstate funds to fight methamphetamine producers and dealers. [continues 628 words]
