This year there have been more than 100 overdoses in Naperville. Police say that’s well over the average of 50 for 2015 and 2016.
That’s why the Naperville Police Department and KidsMatter recently hosted “The Cop and the Convict,” a 90-minute program focusing on talking with teens about drug use and opioid addiction.
Naperville Police Detective Rich Wistocki and former addict and ex-convict Tim Ryan spoke at the municipal center about both sides of the addiction story, offering tips to parents about where to go for help and how to identify drug use.
“If parents want to know what kind of drugs their kids are doing, just look in the cell phones. It’s how they order. It’s how they talk to each other. It’s how they take pictures of when they’re in the drug trade,” Wistocki said.
Ryan said in addition to recognizing the problem, parents also need to be willing to ask for help.
“And when there is an issue due to the stigma and remorse, they don’t want to tell anyone. If this is a progressive and chronic disease, we need to treat it like one,” said Ryan.
For more information on how you can get help you can go to timryanspeaks.com.
Naperville News 17’s Beth Bria reports.
