Mom: Heroin to Blame For Son's Death

Wednesday Journal has spoken with the mother of a teen who died last month in a suspected heroin overdose, and she's calling for some real talk on drug use.

Nolan Hitt, 17 and a former student at , was found dead of a suspected overdose at his father's Oak Park home. Toxicology reports are still pending, but Joyce Hitt told WJ her son had used heroin in the past.

Hitt said parents need to be aware of the potential signs of heroin use — which isn't always easy, considering most drug education programs center on teen marijuana and alcohol use.

But education for parents, teens and even grade schoolers, needs to happen before it's too late.

She said three mothers who'd lost children in heroin overdoses attended Nolan's April 12 wake, where she'd also asked several other teens if they'd tried the drug. Six said yes, she told WJ.

A memorial page honoring Nolan Hitt has been set up on Facebook.

Heroin use in the Chicago area has been cause for concern in recent years, in part because of geography. Specifically, use of the Eisenhower Expressway, the so-called "Heroin Highway" linking Chicago drug dealers to the western suburbs and vice versa.

A 2010 study by Roosevelt University (attached) revealed abuse of the drug in Chicagoland "is more extreme than anywhere else in the country. And young suburbanites are a primary reason," the Chicago Tribune reported.

In summer 2010, three overdoses were reported on two consecutive days in Oak Park and River Forest, with a pair of users in one incident keeled over at Harlem and Lake and vomiting, according to WJ.

Since then, there have been dozens of incidents centering on the drug, ranging from dozens of busts to the Aug. 2011 apparent

Looking for help with heroin addiction? The Gateway Foundation has several Chicago area locations; Chicago's Haymarket Center offers intervention, detox and outpatient services and Chicago Treatment and Counseling Centers have locations in the city and Cicero. If you know of any more, please drop a line in the comments.