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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
ESTABLISHING A JOINT COOK-CHICAGO TASK FORCE AGAINST HEROIN
WHEREAS, The County of Cook is a home rule unit of government pursuant to the 1970 Illinois Constitution, Article VII, Section 6 (a); and,
WHEREAS, The City of Chicago is a home rule unit of government pursuant to the 1970 Illinois Constitution, Article VII, Section 6 (a); and,
WHEREAS, Pursuant to their home rule powers, both the County of Cook and the City of Chicago may exercise any power and perform any function relating to their governments and affairs, including the power to regulate for the protection of the public health, safety, morals, and welfare; and,
WHEREAS, the President of Cook County Board and the Cook County Board of Commissioners hereby find that Cook County must take immediate action to address the heroin crisis in Cook County; and,
WHEREAS, Heroin-related overdose deaths have quadrupled in the United States in the past decade; and,
WHEREAS, Nationwide, the number of people who admitted using heroin within the past year nearly doubled between 2007 and 2013 to 681,000; and,
WHEREAS, Heroin overdose deaths have been on the rise statewide since 2011, according to Illinois Department of Public Health; Last year, 633 heroin overdose deaths occurred statewide, up from 583 in 2013; and,
WHEREAS, In 2013, heroin accounted for 224 of the 337 total opioid-linked deaths in Cook County; and,
WHEREAS, According to a report published by the Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy at Roosevelt University, in 2011, hospitals in the Chicago Metropolitan Area witnessed more heroin-related emergency room visits than any other city in the country; and,
WHEREAS, According to the Arrestee Drug Use Monitoring Program, Cook County ranked first in the nation for heroin use among arrestees in 2011; and,
WHEREAS, Arrestees from Chicago tested positive for opiates including heroin at a rate that is 18.5% higher than any other city in the nation; and,
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