Through the past decade, heroin has grown into a sought after drug in the North Shore area.

Paula Nixon is an active heroin addict who formerly attended Glenbrook South. “Dealers come up to this area because they know there is a lot of money, and some of the kids are tricked into trying it, thinking it’s cocaine or something else,” Nixon said in an interview with Glenbrook South’s newspaper “The Oracle.”

White suburban teenagers are the most common heroin users. A study at Roosevelt University’s Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy, found that there was a 442 percent increase in users under the age of 17 and a 393 percent increase in users ages 18 through 20 between 1997 and 2000. These statistics support their conclusion that, “Chicago and its suburban counties are suffering the worst heroin problem in America.”

Former New Trier student Meghan Murrin, class of 2005, began experimenting with drugs as a 15 year old freshman. After being caught violating the New Trier Code of Conduct, she was immediately expelled from her high school sport, volleyball, however her expulsion did not prevent her from staying out of trouble. Murrin said in the Chicago Tribune, “That lent her more free time to hang out with friends who seemed to also have an interest in trying different drugs.”

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “New heroin users typically are young, White suburban residents. The increase in heroin indicators, including deaths from overdose, in the suburban counties around Chicago (specifically, DuPage, Will, and McHenry Counties) is the most important finding for the Chicago area for this reporting period.”

Few people are aware of how common heroin is used in the suburbs. It has the reputation of being a ‘lower class’ drug, however that is not the case. Sophomore Graham Michelson stated, “No, I don’t think it’s popular,” he said, “I don’t hear about anyone I know doing it. It’s a ghetto thing, your life is definitely messed up if you’re shooting a drug into your bloodstream.”

Wilmette Police Chief Brian King told Huston, “One alarming sign is that many younger heroin users report to police that they were unaware that heroin was more dangerous or more addictive than other drugs.”

PJ Newberg is the mother of a former teenage heroin addict. Now in final stages of recovery, she created a website known as, ‘Northshore Secret Heroin Problem,’ where she shares her personal experiences with anyone interested in the process of overcoming heroin abuse.

“After four deaths in a seemingly drug-free suburb outside Chicago, I decided to start a website and not-for-profit organization to educate and inform the public.” Newberg explained on her website, “very little information about the epidemic-sized problem is available and the problem is far too often overlooked and swept under the table.”

Her website provides statistics and information regarding the drug itself; however, it also contains links to possible resources that people can use to research if they fear for their own safety or the safety of a loved one.

“The whole reason I got involved with anything related to heroin awareness was because I saw how heroin ruined lives and tears families apart,” Newberg said. “This drug is so dangerous and has killed countless young people. If I could just get the word out about how dangerous the drug is, how available and how cheap the drug is, to help anyone–it would be worth it.”

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse heroin can be injected, inhaled by snorting or sniffing, or smoked. All three routes of administration deliver the drug to the brain very rapidly.

Heroin is an inexpensive drug, ranging from $8 to $10 dollars for a small bag. It is easy to obtain in the Chicago area, seeing as it is ranked by Northshore Secret Heroin Problem as the, ‘worst in the nation for heroin related problems.’

In 2010, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported over 10,000 primary drug abuse episodes related to heroin abuse in Illinois, surpassing the use of all other drugs.