To help bring awareness to what they call our local overdose crisis, Kankakee County Coroner Bob Gesner and County State’s Attorney Jim Rowe are staging an Empty Chair Campaign on the front lawn of the Kankakee County Courthouse next week. 87 empty chairs covered with purple ribbons will represent empty chairs at 87 Thanksgiving dinner tables in Kankakee County Thursday. One for each overdose death in the county this year. Rowe says today fentanyl laced heroin is not the heroin of previous generations.
Gessner says along with Fentanyl the county is also seeing an increase in Xylazine overdose deaths. Xylazine is an animal tranquilizer that has not been approved for humans. Gessner warns that Xylazine does not respond to Narcan making the drug very dangerous to users. The Empty Chair Campaign will be on display at the courthouse Wednesday through Sunday of next week.
Comments