Full Text of HR0917 98th General Assembly
HR0917 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Heroin is an illegal and highly addictive drug | 3 | | that is both the most abused and the most rapidly acting of the | 4 | | opiates; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Heroin was first synthesized in 1874 from | 6 | | morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the | 7 | | seed pods of certain varieties of poppy plants; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Heroin is typically sold as a white or brownish | 9 | | powder or as the black sticky substance known as "black tar | 10 | | heroin"; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Although purer heroin is becoming more common, | 12 | | most heroin is "cut" with other drugs or with substances such | 13 | | as sugar, starch, and powdered milk, as well as strychnine or | 14 | | other poisons; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Because heroin abusers do not know the actual | 16 | | strength of the drug or its true contents, they are at risk of | 17 | | overdose and death; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Heroin also poses special problems because of | 19 | | transmission of HIV and other diseases that can occur from | 20 | | sharing needles or other injection equipment, and because of |
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| 1 | | the medical and social consequences of abuse, including fetal | 2 | | effects, crime, violence, and disruptions to the family, | 3 | | workplace, and educational environments; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, According to "Heroin Use in Illinois: A Ten-Year | 5 | | Multiple Indicator Analysis, 1998 to 2008", the Chicago | 6 | | metropolitan area ranked among the worst nationally for | 7 | | heroin-related problems, including ranking first in the number | 8 | | of individuals admitted to the emergency room for heroin abuse | 9 | | and first in the percentage of arrestees testing positive for | 10 | | heroin; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, The study also found a large increase in deaths | 12 | | from heroin overdoses in the collar counties, including a 130% | 13 | | increase in Lake County from 2000 to 2009, a 150% increase in | 14 | | McHenry County in just a three-year period, a doubling of | 15 | | heroin-related deaths in Will County in a period of just two | 16 | | years, and a total of 78 heroin-related deaths in DuPage County | 17 | | over a three-year period, indicating that heroin remains
a | 18 | | continuing problem in DuPage County; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, The study also found the increase in suburban | 20 | | heroin abuse has resulted from increased
heroin use among | 21 | | teens, including a 27% increase in suburban Cook County and a | 22 | | 46% increase
in the collar counties; in 2008, over 100 | 23 | | individuals in the Chicago Metropolitan Area
under the age of |
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| 1 | | 35 died from heroin overdose; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, Despite efforts to combat the use of heroin, | 3 | | DuPage County saw a record 45 confirmed heroin-related deaths | 4 | | in 2013; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Heroin has become the second most common drug | 6 | | after alcohol and the most common illegal substance for which | 7 | | individuals enter treatment in Illinois, compared to the fourth | 8 | | most common reason Illinoisans entered publicly-funded | 9 | | treatment in 1998; therefore, be it
| 10 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 11 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 12 | | we urge the citizens of the State of Illinois, especially the | 13 | | parents of Illinois youth, to become aware of the dangers | 14 | | associated with the use of heroin and the escalating number of | 15 | | accidental deaths due to heroin overdoses; and be it further
| 16 | | RESOLVED, That we find that comprehensive drug education | 17 | | programs, including the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) | 18 | | program, serve as valuable tools in presenting the facts and | 19 | | dangers related to heroin use to Illinois youth; and be it | 20 | | further | 21 | | RESOLVED, That we designate the date of November 4, 2014 as |
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| 1 | | Heroin Abuse Awareness Day in the State of Illinois.
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