The overdose deaths over the weekend of two teenage brothers who were recent Penn High School graduates provided the latest example of a deadly drug abuse epidemic that has claimed lives across demographics.
Police said the brothers, 19-year-old Nick Savage and 18-year-old Jack Savage, were found dead Sunday morning after overdosing on a combination of drugs and alcohol at a late-night house party in the Knollwood area of Granger. Two other partygoers were treated for overdoses.
It was still unclear Monday what types of drugs the brothers took before they died because toxicology tests were still pending after their autopsies, said Jessica McBrier, a spokeswoman for the St. Joseph County prosecutor’s office, in a news release.
Still, some experts said the incident highlighted how the upward trend of prescription drug abuse over the past five years — often associated with painkillers such as Oxycontin — has not spared affluent suburban communities.
“We have to be aware it can happen to anyone,” said Lawrence Willoughby, addiction services team leader for Oaklawn in St. Joseph County. “None of us want to believe it. Well, here it is — two kids from Granger who had this really wonderful life ahead of them.”
Experts have also blamed the abuse of prescription pills for a rapid increase in heroin use across the country. Last year, at least 19 people died of overdoses tied to heroin in St. Joseph County — the most in at least six years — and four more fatal overdoses were blamed on related painkillers.
Together, overdoses from heroin and prescription drugs have killed dozens of Michiana residents across boundaries of age, race, gender, economic class and geography. Many overdose victims come from stable families and earn good grades in school before they try the drugs, experts have said.