CLINTON — Last week, nearly 100 people gathered at Vespasian Warner Public Library for a forum on the opioid/heroin crisis facing the nation. 

Hosted by Congressman Rodney Davis and the DeWitt County Substance Abuse Coalition, local, state and federal representatives discussed the problems and ideas to address this national emergency.

Illinois Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti said this epidemic “knows no neighborhood, knows no race, no color, no class.”

Illinois opioid-related overdoses are up 274 percent since 2008, she said. “That is alarming.”

A $16 million federal grant has been awarded to Illinois to coordinate strategies for prevention, treatment and law enforcement of the opioid crisis. 

Jaime Smith of St. Joseph shared her personal story of addiction that began with the use of hydrocodone and anti-depressants in 2013. 

“I belonged to what I call a ‘pill gang’ of suburban house moms in my St. Joseph community.”

Dressed nothing like the stereotype of a heroin addict, Smith said she was “popping and swapping” pills with other moms she met through her children. 

“We were doctor shopping. We were doing anything we could to get our next fix,” she said. “It was our dirty secret.” 

In 2016, Smith said she was “no longer able to be a functioning addict. I lost my job and I abandoned my family and I ran up to Chicago and I became a full-blown heroin addict.”

“This was not supposed to happen to me,” she said. “I don’t come from a bad area, I had a very nice house and an amazing job and an amazing family. This was not my life. Addiction does not run in my family. These drugs took over my brain and turned me into somebody I wasn’t.”

Smith overdosed three times during her drug addiction. 

What Smith really needed was not drugs but a therapist, she said. 

“I had mental pain.” Opioids are designed to diffuse physical pain but Smith said, “They also take away mental pain.”

“Rehab taught me how to put my disease into remission.”

Now clean and sober 17 months, Smith gives her free time to other addicts and coalitions throughout the state help addicts. 

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent Glenn Haas told the group heroin investigations in the Springfield DEA office have increased from about 10 percent in 2014 to 85 to 90 percent today. 

Sadly, he said “80 percent of the heroin users started out with opioids and painkillers.”

“It’s a disease,” added Smith. “Break the stigma.”