Oregon illegal drug use called higher than average

By WILLIAM McCALL
Associated Press
Friday, August 8, 2008 10:32 AM PDT

PORTLAND — The federal agency that helps coordinate drug enforcement in Oregon says illegal drug use in the state is higher than the national average.

The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program released its annual threat assessment for Oregon on Thursday, saying methamphetamine and marijuana use remain a major part of a drug problem that costs the state nearly $6 billion a year.

The report also says prescription drug abuse is increasing.

‘‘It seems like in my career in law enforcement, I have spent a lifetime dealing with illegal drugs and alcohol abuse, and the ravages that drugs and alcohol have on our community,’’ Portland Police Chief Rosie Sizer said.

The program, run by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, provides funding for multi-agency drug task forces that state law enforcement officials say are essential to effectively battle drug trafficking. Oregon State Police Superintendent Tim McLain said interagency teams are needed to take advantage of limited resources and ‘‘get the most bang for the buck.’’

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He recalled the start of his career in Douglas County and said that assistance from federal agencies — including the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — was critical to drug trafficking investigations in rural areas.

‘‘We’d have never gotten the job done in Douglas County without ATF or the FBI,’’ McLain said.

McLain and Sizer joined more than a dozen other top law enforcement officials at a news conference in Portland to release the annual report.

The highlights were stark:

— The total direct economic cost from alcohol and drug abuse in Oregon was estimated at $5.93 billion in 2006, with 45 percent linked to illegal drug use.

— Oregon continues to rank in the top fifth of states with for its rate of substance abuse in the past year among children 12 and older, and adults.

— More than a fourth of Oregon prison inmates were convicted of drug crimes, which is more than twice the number of assaults and three times the number of any other major felony.

— Much of the drug trafficking is under the control of Mexican organizations, which dominate the transportation and distribution of heroin and cocaine.

— Prescription drug abuse treatment admissions increased 332 percent in the past 10 years, surpassing admissions for cocaine in 2005.

— The Oregon medical marijuana law has been consistently violated.

But there was some progress.

Chris Gibson, the program’s Oregon director, said the number of methamphetamine labs reported by law enforcement from 2004-07 declined by 96 percent.

Gibson said the decline was due mostly to tougher enforcement and strict control of pseudoephedrine — an over-the-counter cold remedy that is a key ingredient for meth — under recent laws passed by the Oregon Legislature and Congress.

High-intensity drug trafficking areas are designated around country to concentrate federal resources in those areas.

The eight Oregon counties designated are Clackamas, Deschutes, Douglas, Jackson, Marion, Multnomah, Umatilla and Washington.