Karen Dobner said her son, Max, never gave her cause to worry. He never spoke ill of anyone. He never lost his temper. He was never disrespectful or rude. He was a health nut and refused to eat at Burger King or McDonald’s.

She has no answer for what led Max to use synthetic marijuana on June 14, 2011, but she believes it was because he thought it was healthier than marijuana.

Later Karen received a call that her son, driving at almost 100 mph, had plowed thrown an intersection, hit a wall, went airborne and crashed through the front of a home. He died in the accident at the age of 19. She spoke out against that false assumption at a Woodridge village forum earlier this year. 

Read more: Mom: ‘I Didn’t Know What Synthetic Marijuana Was Until My Son Died’

Synthetic marijuana, which was banned starting this year, still struck fear in parents in 2012. Perhaps even more than that was an apparent rise in heroin use among teens, many times leading to fatalities. 

In April, a forum in Darien was held regarding the increase in heroin use. 

The details are sketchy, but this much we know: Two young adults with local ties, a boy in his late teens and a woman in her early 20s, died in separate incidents that Darien police said are suspected heroin overdoses. The deaths happened within 10 days of one another. Both graduated from Cass and later Hinsdale South. Police said one died in Oak Park, while the other died in an unincorporated area of DuPage County.

Read more: Lessons on the Dangers of Heroin Spring From Recent Tragedies

Similar forums were held at schools around the Chicago suburbs throughout 2012, and law enforcement agencies continue to keep a watch out for the deathly drugs.