Affects of Heroin in Suburbs Topic of Community Forum

Jeannine Garriepy knows the heartache of heroin addiction.

She lost her brother, John Yost, about 2 ½ years to a heroin overdose.

The Huntley woman said she tried to save him through the years. Yost started using marijuana at age 15 then became addicted to heroin the first time he tried it. He had a full-blown addiction by the time he was 20 years old.

Garriepy’s personal experience led her to become involved in the Robert Crown Center’s Heroin Prevention Project. The center is sponsoring a Community Forum on Heroin from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 18. It will be held at Midwestern University, Littlejohn Hall Auditorium, 555 31st Street, Downers Grove.

This forum is for anyone dealing with the drug, she said.  It will also showcase Robert Crown Center’s original research into factors that influence an alarming number of young people to try heroin. The short research presentation will be followed by a panel discussion featuring local experts. The floor will then be open for community comments and questions.

While the forum is in Hinsdale, Garriepy encourages McHenry County residents to attend. She said McHenry County is seeing an increase in heroin use, as are other counties.

Her brother was clean for a few years but “heroin has a hold on you and it doesn’t let you go,” she said.

“It’s just a horrible, horrible drug and I don’t think people know the dangers of it,” Garriepy said.

For more information about the forum, contact Joan Drummond Olson at Robert Crown Center at 630-325-1900.