People living in Chicago’s suburbs are prescribed up to four times as many pain pills per person as those who live in the city, a Chicago Sun-Times analysis shows.

In the southern tip of Illinois, it’s up to seven times as much, according to the analysis of federal Drug Enforcement Administration records of the numbers of prescriptions written for the two most popular prescription pain drugs — oxycodone and hydrocodone.

Oxycodone, the more powerful of the two, is the key ingredient in the brand-name prescription painkillers OxyContin, Percocet and Percodan. Hydrocodone, which like oxycodone is an opiate-based drug, is the main ingredient in Vicodin, Norco and Lortab.

The north and northwest suburbs — areas that have ZIP codes that begin with 600 — had the highest per-person consumption of prescription oxycodone in the Chicago area, the DEA data shows. These ZIP codes include some of the Chicago area’s wealthiest municipalities.

Suburbs to the west and south — with ZIPs beginning with 601, 603, 604, 605 and 609 — had the second-highest oxycodone consumption in the metroplitan area.

And Chicago, along with close-in suburbs in the 602, 607 and 608 ZIP codes, had the lowest consumption of prescription oxycodone per person in the area, as well in all of Illinois.

The patterns for hydrocodone were similar.

It’s not that suburbanites suffer more pain, experts say. Instead, they say the prescription pattern reflects that suburbanites tend to have more money, better insurance and more connections to doctors who can prescribe the potent painkillers.

And that sometimes lead to more problems with abuse and addiction, says Jeanette Wiener, a registered nurse and addiction counselor at New Hope Recovery in Chicago. Wiener says she’s been seeing more people from the suburbs seeking help for pill addictions.

“My experience has been that you’re going to see more pills being used in the suburbs — both by people who have legitimate pain and people who use it for addictive purposes — because they have access to physicians, and they have money,” says Wiener.

Dr. Sandeep Amin, an anesthesiogist at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, says that in recent years more clinics dispensing powerful painkillers have opened in the suburbs.

“You’re seeing now the proliferation of some of these clinics that are willing to dispense narcotics to patients,” Amin says. “It’s a matter of patients getting easier access to some of these medications in the suburban locations, whereas, in the past, you had a fixed number of clinics that were comfortable or willing to give out medication.”

Amin says a state-run system that tracks painkiller prescriptions helps prevent abuse but doesn’t work as well along Illinois’ borders, where people can just cross into Wisconsin or Missouri to fill prescriptions more than once. He says that could explain the some of the higher consumption in the north suburbs and in Southern Illinois. Amin believes a federal prescription monitoring system would prevent this.

An analysis of the DEA data by The Associated Press found that the total amount of oxycodone prescribed nationwide increased by 275 percent from 2000 to 2010, while prescribed hydrocodone increased 148 percent. The national data showed that much of this growth occurred in suburbs.

Dr. Ileana Arias, principal deputy director at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, joined other health officials from around the nation earlier this month at a conference in Orlando to publicize the escalation in prescription use and abuse.

“This is an epidemic. And at CDC, we do not use the word epidemic very lightly,” Arias said. “The problem is, unfortunately, a wicked problem.”

October 30, 2011 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- A 2010 study by Roosevelt University researchers found the Chicago area had the most heroin-related hospital visits in the nation.

The drug is cheap, and it's attracting users everywhere including some who are very young.

Today's heroin can be snorted or smoked -- not just injected -- and that's led to a change in the typical user. Increasingly, today's addict is young, female and from the suburbs. And the roots of their addiction can be found in their family's medicine cabinet.

For many, the road to dependence begins at independence --one of a handful of West Side exits off the Eisenhower serve as the gateway to the nation's busiest heroin corridor.

"The ride there you're just anxiety, just, 'Oh I can't wait to get there. I can't wait to get it. I can't wait to feel better,'" said a 19-year-old female heroin addict whose scar are more than skin deep.

She grew up far from the west side's rough and tumble streets, amidst the manicured lawns of the far west suburbs which seems an unlikely breeding ground for a new crop of heroin users.

"I always thought of them as homeless and not caring about what they look like and real skinny and everything," the 19-year-old addict said.

Heroin has never been cheaper and more pure. Just $100 can buy a two day supply.

"I knew. The first time I did it I was like, 'This is bad. I like this way too much. And this is going to be bad," said the 19-year-old addict, whose identity ABC7 has hidden.

DEA Agent Jack Riley says powerful Mexican drug cartels have partnered with Chicago street gangs to make heroin easily available.

"If I had to liken anything to a weapon of mass destruction, it would be heroin," Riley said.

After smuggling the drugs here, Riley says the cartels often operate in Spanish-speaking areas near Midway Airport.

"They can assimilate into these hard working neighborhoods. They can appear to be great citizens, take care of their lawn, put Christmas lights up," Riley said.

The cartels need the gangs to distribute the drugs but officials say fights between the two groups are increasingly to blame for the near-daily violence plaguing some neighborhoods.

"What we consider to be senseless violent acts, many of them may be actually connected to the cartel's operations in Chicago," Riley said.

It seems the danger is of little deterrent to users.

"Within two weeks I was getting sick physically without it, and I needed it," the 19-year-old addict said.

It wasn't until an overdose nearly killed her that she began treatment a few weeks ago at New Hope Recovery Center in Geneva. In four years, the facility has seen a seven-fold increase in heroin cases and many involve teens first hooked on prescription painkillers.

"They'll run out, and someone will say 'Well, snort some heroin. It'll help you, so you won't go through withdrawals,'" said Jake Epperly, New Hope Recovery Center.

That may have been how Billy Roberts began using. The Homer Glen 19-year-old died of an overdose two years ago and his father now warns of heroin's dangers.

"I do it for him," said the victim's father John Roberts. "And I'll continue doing it as long as I'm alive. To give my son's life meaning.

A former Chicago cop, Roberts says it's time for new solutions.

"We need help. The police cannot do this alone. We need a comprehensive, strategic approach to this problem if we're ever going to see these numbers turn downward," Roberts said.

To put in perspective how big the problem is here, the Chicago DEA has secured funding for a 90-person strike force to combat the operation run by the cartels and gangs in the city. Officials say it's the only such strike force outside of the U.S.-Mexico border.

The 19-year-old woman interviewed by ABC7, who is currently in treatment, says she knows at least 20 other kids her age, from her community, who are current or former users.

(Copyright ©2011 WLS-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

Hurt in a car crash, a Geneva woman got hooked on the painkiller Vicodin. When one doctor stopped prescribing it, she got it from others and was sneaking around so much that her husband thought she was cheating, said her counselor, Jake Epperly.

The face of drug addiction, experts say, is increasingly white, suburban and upper-middle class. New users include older adults seeking relief from pain and teens looking for a high.

The resulting abuse of prescription medications represents the greatest epidemic in drug abuse since crack cocaine ravaged cities in the 1980s and 1990s, said Epperly, owner of New Hope Recovery Center in Chicago and Geneva.

Statistics tend to back him up. Deaths from prescription drugs tripled nationwide from 2000 to 2008 and exceeded deaths from heroin and cocaine combined, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drug deaths reached an all-time high of almost 37,500 in 2009, the tipping point in an ongoing trend reported by the Los Angeles Times: For the first time, drugs killed more people in this country than car crashes.

In Illinois, drug deaths first outnumbered traffic fatalities in 2006, when 1,410 drug-related cases were reported, according to the CDC.

As drug abuse has increased in the Chicago area, none of the traditional street drugs has gone away. Instead, heroin use has spread from the city to the surrounding counties, according to a 1998-2008 Roosevelt University study last year.

In Lake County, for example, researchers found that heroin deaths rose 130 percent from 2000 to 2009. In McHenry County, such deaths increased by 150 percent over one three-year period.

In Cook County, the number of deaths actually decreased during the decade leading up to 2008 with one notable exception, which underscores the spread of the drug: Heroin-related deaths increased 40 percent among white women, Roosevelt researchers reported.

Heroin and prescription painkiller abuse is intertwined, experts say. The two are similar enough that addicts who run out of one may take the other as a substitute.

Users often start on prescription meds because they are easily available and considered safe. Once hooked, they may move on to heroin, which is now easier to try because it's pure enough to snort or smoke rather than inject, Epperly said.

Both types of drugs have something else in common: They are depressants that kill by suppressing breathing, particularly when mixed with alcohol or other downers.

And the most common way teens get started on prescription pills, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, is through the medicine cabinet at home.

Though the war on illegal drugs has been hotly debated in recent months, prescription drug abuse involves a product that is legal but controlled — and deadly when misused.

The DEA estimates that 1 in 6 people younger than 20 has tried prescription drugs to get high.

Jack Riley, special agent in charge of the DEA's Chicago division, said he's alarmed that drug cartels are starting to supply street gangs with prescription drugs. And the gangs are sending members to doctors to fake ailments and get prescriptions.

"It'll take educators, parents and law enforcement to go after people involved in prescription drug abuse — just like we're going after the Mexican drug cartels — because they're doing that much damage," Riley said.

Special delivery

A drug dealer is no longer someone standing on a street corner, law enforcement officials say. Instead, he or she may be, intentionally or unwittingly, a doctor or pharmacist, even a package delivery driver.

In June, an Aurora man pleaded guilty to conspiracy to illegally deliver drugs through a package delivery company. Prosecutors said Steven Immergluck, 35, a sales representative, and others recruited a pharmacy and doctors to write and fill prescriptions for an Internet drug provider. They then delivered the goods nationwide to customers' homes.

Through just one of multiple schemes, prosecutors alleged, the defendants delivered 35,000 packages and made almost $500,000.

Similarly, a Calumet Park man was charged this month with illegally diverting the painkiller hydrocodone from the Skokie pharmacy where he worked, the DEA reported. Earl Newsome, 57, is accused of selling some 700,000 pills with an estimated street value of up to $7 million.

Among users, Bill Stelcher, a retail salesman from Hoffman Estates, knows firsthand how prescription drugs can ruin a life.

Wracked with pain from a bad back, Stelcher, 44, had surgery in 2000. For three years, he lived with excruciating pain and took a succession of painkillers, including Vicodin and Oxycontin.

He was taking 30 to 40 pills a day and stayed in bed most of the time, but a pain management clinic kept renewing his prescription, he said. Follow-up surgery finally fixed his back, but by that time he was hooked, he said.

Five or six times he tried to quit on his own, going through painful withdrawal, but he ended up back on the painkillers, he said.

"The drugs completely take over," Stelcher said. "It was killing me. If I'd had it my way, I would have been dead."

His wife got him into rehab, and he has been clean for almost seven years, he said.

"There are places you can get help," he said. "It will bring life back. You can smell and taste and see things again differently."

Heroin in the cornfields

In Will County, the recent focus is on the troubling rise of an old scourge: heroin. A decade ago, the county had five or six heroin deaths a year, with most of the victims men in their 40s.

In recent years, the number of deaths has nearly quadrupled, to more than two dozen annually. More victims are in their teens and 20s, as John Roberts learned.

Roberts, a retired Chicago police officer, had moved his family to what he thought was a safe community in southwest suburban Homer Glen.

Two years ago, his son Billy, 19, tried heroin, Roberts said. The teen was put into rehab, then monitored closely to keep him away from other users, he said. His son went to meetings but didn't think he needed them because he wasn't an addict, Roberts said.

The teen turned up dead at a friend's house, he said.

"I thought I'd seen a lot and knew how not to become a victim," Roberts said. "It's like, 'How is this happening?'"

In response to such tragedies, Will County officials have started HELPS — Heroin Education Leads to Preventive Solutions. The program, launched in the summer, will use TV commercials and public speakers at schools and churches to warn about drug abuse.

Signs of opiate drug use include pinpoint pupils, too much sleep, too little motivation, unexplained absences and worsening school grades, counselors say.

Parents need to keep their prescription drugs away from children and throw them out when they're done with them.

More generally, the Roosevelt University researchers recommend drug education for young people, increased funding for treatment and overdose prevention.

They also recommend limited protections for those who call 911.

Overdose victims die needlessly, health advocates say, because their friends are afraid they'll get arrested if they call for help.

In memory of his son, Roberts is pushing for a new law to give drug users immunity from prosecution if they call for emergency help.

Springfield, Ill. - The Illinois State Senate gave the green light to legislation that would save lives from drug overdose.

Lawmakers said friends are watching friends die from drug overdose. They fear if they call for help they will face prosecution.

The goal of the bill is to save lives of drug addicts. It passed unanimously and could become law by the end of next month.

State Senator Ira Silverstein said more people reportedly die from a drug overdose in the state of Illinois than from car accidents.

“Today, Senate Bill 1701 was passed in the Senate,” Silverstein said. “It gives immunity to individuals who call 911 when they discover an individual that has overdosed.”

Silverstein describes his bill as life-saving legislation.

“I think it's very important that an individual who finds someone overdose and calls 911 that he or she should not be liable or arrested for any type of drug related offenses,” Silverstein explained.

The bill will make Illinois one of three states that provides immunity from prosecution for drug possession when a person seeks aid for a friend's overdose.

New Hope Recovery Center's Intake Director Jim Butler said time and time again friends watch friends die, instead of calling for help.

“We've been involved in instances like this where at our program in the Western suburbs where folks have died under these exact circumstances that we're talking about right now, needlessly,” Butler said.

The immunity is only granted for those without a prior criminal offense.

Butler said that safeguard could interfere with saving lives.

“If someone is going to try and save a life,” Butler said, “Whether they have a previous arrest record or not, I don't think should come into play.”

Critics fear the bill lets the bad guys go and provides a loophole for drug dealers.

There are safeguards in place to prevent abuse of the law including a limit on the amount of drugs in someone's possession.

Illinois joins the states of Washington and New Mexico which already have similar laws.

While we value treating medical problems from birth, we are not encouraged to get any sort of mental health "check up" unless major symptoms begin to surface. 3.7% felt they needed treatment but did not make an effort. There could be many reasons for this, but the one that instantly comes to mind is the utter hopelessness and despair that result from addiction, especially in its late stages.

Interventions would be most useful in such circumstances. 2.1% of these untreated substance abusers actually made an effort but were not able to receive treatment for a variety of reasons. Almost half of this group named cost and insurance barriers as the block to treatment. A quarter said they had decided they were not ready to stop using. Other major factors cited were the stigma of entering treatment, lack of knowledge on where to go for treatment, feeling that they could handle the problems in ways other than treatment, lack of time and lack of faith in the treatment process.

These result show the reality of how difficult it is to access individuals who could benefit from help. The managed care system continues to discourage the use of mental health benefits through discrimination against those who have been in treatment as well as through the continual decrease in coverage for mental health treatment. This contributes to the stigma around mental health treatment.

A recent study has shown that an investment in sobriety pays a return of 766%.

Researchers recently released the results of a study that shows that drug rehab costs are more than made up for by a reduction in crime and an increase in earnings by former addicts.

The study stated that for every $1.00 spent on drug treatment, society gained $7.66 in monetary benefits. Even without considering the well-being of the individual, it's clear that spending taxpayer funds on addiction recovery is a sound investment.

The researchers compared the cost of residential and outpatient treatment against the cost to society of medical care, criminal activities, unemployment, decreases in productivity, mental illness and public aid.

Members of society who abuse drugs and alcohol consume a disproportionately large chunk of public funds spent on medical services and the judicial system.

The annual cost of drug addiction to society is estimated to be more than 250 billion dollars per year. It is also estimated that addiction to drugs and alcohol claims more than 500,000 lives per year.

The effects of addiction can be various and widespread and sometimes take decades to play themselves out. For instance, children of parents who suffer from addiction are more likely to suffer from addiction themselves. In addition they often have physical and psychological difficulties, which impact the fabric of society in a multitude of ways.

1. Continued excessive or compulsive use of alcoholic drinks
2. 1. a. Poisoning by alcohol.
   2. b. A chronic disorder marked by excessive and usually compulsive drinking of alcohol leading to psychological and physical dependence or addiction

Alcoholism is usually characterized by the following traits:

• Craving -

  The overwhelming need or compulsion to drink.

• Loss of Control -

  The inability to stop consuming alcohol once a person begins.

• Physical Dependence -

  When alcohol consumption is stopped after a period of heavy use, withdrawal symptoms such as nausea, sweating, anxiety and shakiness. These symptoms are relieved by taking another drink or by the use of sedatives.

• Tolerance -

  To achieve the same "high" greater amounts of alcohol are required.

Alcoholism actually has little to do with the type of drink or the amount consumed, but everything to do with the person's inability to limit the need for alcohol. With prolonged use of alcohol, the brain chemistry changes and becomes accustomed to and dependent upon presence. The body and brain's desire for more alcohol can become stronger than even the need for food or water.

The question is asked: Why do some individuals develop a dependency on alcohol and others are able to remain casual users? It is thought that alcoholism is an inherited, genetic disease. But genetics is only part of the equation. Environmental factors such as peer influences, availablility of alcohol, economic difficulties, etc. play an important role in determining the likelihood of the development of alcoholism.

1. 1. Euphoria (BAC = .10)

   • The person becomes more confident and daring.
   • They have trouble paying attention.
   • They have more color in their face.
   • They lack good judgement, acting on impulse.
   • They find tasks requiring fine motor control difficult.

2. 2. Excitement (BAC .20)

   • The person may become sleepy.
   • Their short term memory is impaired.
   • Their reaction time is greatly reduced.
   • Their gross motor skills are uncoordinated.
   • They have trouble maintaining their balance.
   • Vision becomes blurry.
   • Their senses become dull (hearing, tasting, touch, etc.)

3. 3. Confusion (BAC .30)

   • The person might not know where they are or what they are doing.
   • Walking may be difficult.
   • Emotions run high - aggressive, withdrawn, overy affectionate.
   • Vision is very blurry.
   • They are very sleepy.
   • The sensation of pain is dulled.

4. 4. Stupor (BAC .40)

   • The person can barely move.
   • They do not respond to external stimuli.
   • Walking or standing is impossible.
   • They may vomit repeatedly.
   • They may become unconscious.

5. 5. Coma (BAC .50)

   • The person is unconscious.
   • Pupils are unresponsive to light.
   • Body temperature is lower than normal.
   • Breathing is shallow.
   • Pulse rate is slow.
   • Death may occure.

6. 6. Death (BAC more than .50)

   • Breathing is halted and the person dies.

Extended care environments have been common in the mental health field for decades to help people transitioning from treatment back into society. They have also been common for people who were incarcerated and were transitioning to the 'real world'. The extended care environments were sometimes referred to as "half-way houses" because people were half-way on their way to complete independence.

Extended care environments (or half-way houses) began to be used for people who were transitioning from alcohol or drug treatment. The term "sober house" was coined to describe these living arrangements. Sober houses gained visibility in popular culture through the show "Sober House" on VH1; the program followed a group of celebrities who had successfully completed treatment in "Celebrity Rehab" at Pasadena Recovery Center.

Extended care environments vary widely in terms of accommodations, price, and level of supervision, but all have some common features:

Stable Sober Environment

Quite simply, the main benefit of extended care environments is the stability they provide. After inpatient treatment, some individuals lack the skills necessary to set and follow schedules and to integrate sober living into their lives. The extended care environment provides a structured living arrangement in which to develop healthy habits and practice integrating those habits into their daily lives, including employment and social interactions. Residents must submit to random drug and alcohol tests to ensure a safe, sober environment for everyone. Most extended care environments have a curfew and require that you complete a probationary period before you are allowed passes to be off-site overnight.

Camaraderie and Support

All residents in a sober living house are recovering from some form of addiction, providing a ready support network of peers who are recovering - people who share the same values, goals and desires for sober living. Extended care residents often motivate each other to attend 12-step meetings and stay focused on sobriety. Some extended care environments also have on-site managers--or on-call staff--for professional support.

Accountability

The disease of chemical dependency often progresses to the point that the addict's life is consumed with either using or obtaining drugs. They neglect tasks such as cooking, cleaning, and sometimes even grooming. The extended care environment requires individuals to assume responsibility and develop accountability. Often, residents must:

• Follow all house rules
• Work or actively seek employment
• Obey curfews
• Commit to length of stay

In most extended care environments, there are consequences if a resident doesn't meet the expectations. The recovering alcoholic or addict learns to be accountable for their actions.

Focused living

In most extended care environments, daily stressors are minimized, with structured shelter and social opportunities provided. The cost of staying in the sober house is usually dealt with in a single, lump sum payment, eliminating the stress of various bills and financial management. Visiting hours are often highly regulated, minimizing outside social interactions. The goal is to free up the individual to focus on sober living by eliminating basic stressors they might otherwise have to face after alcohol rehab. The sober environment also eliminates many of the distractions and temptations which await in the outside world.

Alcohol Recovery Guidance and Supervision

Many extended care environments provide some form of continual care. Daily or weekly meetings are usually mandatory and residents are expected to be actively working a 12-step program. Often, residents will have weekly counseling sessions with staff to make sure they are working on their recovery.

Extended care environments offer a wide range of options in cost and accommodation. At one end of the spectrum, there are sober houses where residents rent a shared room for a weekly rate of $100. At the high end are residential options like Promises Malibu where prices start at $25,000 per month.

Although there is no national criteria for a sober house, Illinois is at the leading edge of creating standards for extended care environments. The Illinois Extended Care Association, Inc (IECA) was established over 20 years ago to ensure individuals in recovery have a safe and healthy place to live where the primary goal is recovery. IAEC is also committed to ensuring that quality residential extended care facilities are readily available and that staff are properly trained to meet the needs of the chemically dependent men and women being served.

The Extended Care Program at New Hope Recovery Center offers a supportive, sober, transitional living environment for individuals who have abstained from alcohol and drugs for thirty days or more. Sober living residences are available in Chicago (Lincoln Park) and Geneva, IL and each is within walking distance of New Hope Recovery Center. Separate units house men and women who are actively working a twelve step program to stay drug and alcohol free.