OD victims' families, lawmakers glad for new fentanyl education requirement for Illinois schools
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The new year means a long list of new laws that will impact our everyday lives in Illinois.
As CBS 2's Jermont Terry reported, one such new law involves an initiative in schools to educate kids on the dangers of opioids.
Some 40 years ago, the War on Drugs involved PSAs telling kids to "just say no." Yet in 2024, there is an epidemic – with fentanyl leading the way.
And a new year stirs up mixed emotions for many – especially for David Haennicke's mother, Sheila.
"David was 29 when he passed away from a fentanyl overdose," said Sheila Haennicke.
It happened in November 2021 on the Chicago Transit Authority's Blue Line.
"It's still painful," said Sheila Haennicke. "I think - you know, it's been a little over two years, so I've gotten through sort of the hardest of the grief."
The mother continues to fight to keep the next person from getting addicted to or dying from fentanyl.
"What I found is helpful is to channel this grief into action, and that's how I know Representative Lashawn K. Ford," said Sheila Haennicke.
"Not just in Chicago, not just in a demographic where it's Black or white it's impacting every household,"
Ford helped co-sponsor a 2024 law that requires school districts to add fentanyl education to the health curriculum.
All school districts in Illinois will be required to teach about fentanyl in health class – beginning in the 2024-2025 school year. Curriculum will need to cover the legal and illegal uses of fentanyl, as well as details about how often and why some drugs are laced with fentanyl.
Students will also have to learn about how often, and why, some drugs are laced with fentanyl. Further, students will have to learn how to spot and prevent an overdose.
In the 1980s, PSAs were in the face of youngsters – from the "This Is Your Brain on Drugs" spot featuring an egg frying in a pan, to Pee-wee Herman warning viewers about crack cocaine. Ford said such an approach is not sufficient today.
"Nancy Reagan's 'just say no to drugs' - we learned that that's not enough to just tell people to just say no," said Ford. "We have to do harm reduction."
"Yeah, we went from, 'Just say no,' to, 'Just say nothing,'" said Chelsea Laliberte Barnes, "and now, we need to focus on, 'Just say know' - K-N-O-W."
Barnes helped lobby for the law in Springfield. Her passion for drug education came when her brother, Alex Laliberte, overdosed on fentanyl at age 20 in 2008.
"Just a couple of weeks ago, we hit the 15-year marker," Barnes said, "and here we sit, still - still on this topic - and wondering, how do we end this, right?"
In 2022, fentanyl contributed to 91 percent of opioid overdose deaths, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Through Dec. 8, 2023, 1,478 opioid deaths were recorded in Cook County, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office."
"So I obviously think that it's a very long overdue law," said Barnes.
"Because fentanyl is everywhere," said Haennicke, "and if it saves one person, it's well worth it."