Ballwin-Area Schools Await Heroin Forums

Rockwood School District representatives announced two upcoming forums meant to address a "dangerous epidemic of heroin and prescription painkiller use by teens," on Tuesday.

The forums are being hosted by the St. Louis County Police Department, the St. Louis County Children's Service Fund and the National Council on Drug and Alcohol Abuse.

The forums already have taken place this year in Maryland Heights, Hazelwood, and South St. Louis County, and will continue within the Rockwood School District and Parkway School District within the next six weeks.

“When it became apparent to many of us that are dealing with heroin aftermath from different angles, namely law enforcement, treatment and ourselves, it became apparent we had to do something,” said Dan Duncan, Director of Community Services at the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse.

Conventionally considered an urban drug, heroin in recent years has appeared more and more frequently in areas like Rolla, Columbia and Jefferson and St. Louis counties. In fact, the drug’s presence on a national level has increased, too, Duncan said.

“But we have definitely been a distribution point,” Duncan said of St. Louis. “Primarily (for) the youth market.”

Duncan said the drug seems to have a newfound prevalence in suburban areas, “where the kids have money to spend, and they’re willing and interested in trying it.”

Duncan said most parents in St. Louis County are unaware just how prevalent heroin is in their community.

“They just were blindsided. They had no idea the amount of heroin use that was in the community (or) the amount of youth that actually are using,” Duncan said.

Duncan said the number of heroin-related deaths in St. Louis County in 2011 is 49 deaths to date, which far outpaces 2010, he said.

“So obviously we’re pretty much on track for surpassing last year, which was what’s been happening the last five years. Every year was an increase,” Duncan said.

Duncan said St. Louis City and St. Louis County combined would probably record more than 300 heroin-related deaths in 2011.

“If you look at it from a regional standpoint, this is an amazing phenomenon we’re going through," Duncan said.

Teens and people in their 20s appear to be the most heavily impacted group in terms of heroin-related fatalities.

The next forum is scheduled for 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at . Forums also will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19 at , and from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 24 at . More information on the Rockwood forums can be found here.

A website developed under the NCADA dedicated to preventing heroin use around St. Louis can be found here.