Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman Sponsors Heroin Awareness Resolution

At the Cook County Board meeting Tuesday, Cook County Commissioner Elizabeth “Liz” Doody Gorman will be sponsoring a resolution to bring awareness to the growing epidemic of heroin in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs, according to a press release.

“I think it is an important issue to bring to the forefront given its rise in use in the Chicago Metropolitan Area,” Gorman said in the release. “Heroin use amongst our high school and junior high school students has been on the rise in recent years and shows no signs of stopping. The stakes have never been so high or the need for action more urgent. This issue has become a major epidemic and needs to be dealt with now.”

View resolution as a PDF by clicking the document to the right.

The resolution calls on all local governments—from school districts and library districts to village boards and city councils—to pass the resolution to bring the problem to light.

“The first step in working toward a sensible, workable solution is to bring awareness of the problem to the forefront” Gorman said in the release. “It is my hope that the resolution will make every citizen aware of the problem.”

Last month, , which was attended by more than 60 police chiefs, school and village officials, and concerned citizens. The purpose of the meeting was "to bring the community together to brainstorm realistic strategies that can help parents and their children prevent further tragedy," according to the release.

Gorman said “our only hope in saving our young people from the devastation caused by this horrific heroin epidemic is to come together as a community and find solutions to this problem now.”