Political Quotes

“I would like to take this time to discuss a critical public health crisis affecting constituents in Illinois and all across the country. Each day, 46 people die from overdose of prescription painkillers in the United States. In Illinois, that number is only growing. Overdose deaths in Illinois from opioids rose about 275 percent from 2008 to 2014. There are an estimated 460,000 nonmedical prescription opioid users in Illinois alone. A major portion of the total number of drug-poisoning deaths between 2013 and 2015 were a result of opioid and prescription drug abuse. Over 4,000 people died as a result of opioids and prescription drugs, and 2,000 people died due to heroin. Illinois also had the third fastest rising death rates from synthetic opioids in the Nation, with overdoses rising by 120 percent from 2014 to 2015. Unfortunately, Illinois is third from the bottom for treatment of substance abuse because of lack of funding and resources to healthcare providers and law enforcement partners in the State. These numbers are alarming, but I would like to share a story behind those numbers--a face. Laura Fry is a mother whose family has experienced the worst of the opioid epidemic. Her son, Alexander, is 29 years old and in remission from heroin use disorder. Alexander was just a normal kid growing up in Wauconda, IL. He had his entire life ahead of him.…”