Heroin Forum Highlights the Need for "Community Action Plan"

Attendees to the Heroin Forum on Wednesday heard about possible solutions for the heroin epidemic in this country, but more than anything, they heard from people who want to save others.

“We have been drawn together by our shared grief,” Caroline Kacena said in a story in the Kane County Chronicle. “No addict seeking recovery should ever die. We have a tool to keep our kids alive – to keep our loved ones alive – so they have another chance to recover. Some people say, ‘How many chances?’ My answer to that is, ‘As many as it takes.’ ”

Caroline Kacena lives in Naperville and lost her son to heroin in July 2012.

After his death, she trained to distribute Narcan, which will reverse and opiate overdose. She told attendees that having Narcan available will save lives.

“If we have Narcan, we could keep this from becoming a fatal illness,” Kacena said in the chronicle. “It’s always going to be chronic and lifelong. You are always in recovery. But it does not have to be fatal.”