BATTLING DRUG DEATHS: THE STATISTICS ARE IN FOR DEATHS DUE TO LEGAL AND
ILLEGAL DRUG USE

There's good news and bad news on the drug overdose front.

The good news is that fewer people in Lane County died of drug overdoses -
particularly heroin - in the first half of this year.

But that's overshadowed by the bad news that more people are dying from
overdoses of prescription medications.

A 27-year-old Eugene heroin addict admitted himself to the Buckley House
detox program when he relapsed for two weeks after being clean six months.

In a midyear report released in late July by the county medical examiner's
office, 24 people died from overdoses of heroin, methamphetamine or a
combination of prescription drugs and alcohol, Lane County Medical Examiner
Frank Ratti reported.

That's a 27 percent decrease from 33 drug-related deaths at this time in
2000. However, more than one third of the deaths were due to prescription
medications or combinations of drugs and alcohol.

Heroin-related deaths - which include accidental overdoses and combinations
of drugs in which heroin was the primary factor - decreased most
dramatically, about 38 percent.

But deaths due to methamphetamine and methadone are also on the decline,
the report shows.

Police and substance abuse specialists attribute the decline in heroin
deaths to increased public awareness, more treatment options and a more
focused law enforcement effort.

"In the last couple of years, the big focus in this community has been
heroin," Eugene Police Capt. Steve Swenson said, "and when (the trend) goes
for more than a year, you can't help but think it's because something
you're doing is making a difference.

"I'd like to think it's that more people are getting into treatment and
that there are fewer people getting into the drug, and then there's the
enforcement piece that there's less availability of the drug."

The decline in heroin overdoses could also be tied to cost and the strength
of manufactured drugs available on Eugene-Springfield streets, Springfield
Sgt. Dick Jones said.

"I think it kind of goes in cycles," he said. "Sometimes, there will be an
influx of heroin and sometimes it's of a different strength from what we've
had here before."

A stronger dose could cause more deaths and a weaker dose could keep others
from dying, Jones said.

While the use of prescription medications for nonmedical purposes is an
ongoing problem, Jones added, it too is cyclical.

"People are not being safe and are mixing things that they have no idea
what they will do," he said. "It's killing them."

A recent study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse reported that an
estimated 9 million people age 12 and older used prescription drugs for
nonmedical purposes in 1999. The highest increase occurred among people age
12 to 25.

One drug that local officials are concerned about is methadone, sometimes
prescribed in pill form as a pain reliever but more widely known as a
treatment for heroin addiction.

So far in 2001, three people in Lane County have died from methadone
overdoses compared to four in 2000 and one in 1999.

"I think the biggest concern for me is the methadone deaths," said Shannon
Thienes, volunteer chairwoman of the Lane County Mental Health advisory
committee and the local alcohol and drug planning committee. "We have been
noticing a trend here for a while."

Thienes, who is also a member of the county's death review committee, said
she finds the statistics about prescription drug overdoses revealing.

"I'm always amazed by citizens who die and the number of drugs they're on,"
she said. "I'm not saying they are misusing them, but people with mental
health issues are often on a lot of different drugs."

Prescription drugs are too readily available, especially to young people,
Thienes said.

"They just go to mom and dad's medicine cabinet and get what they want,"
she said. "It's pretty incredible when you think about it. Kids are taking
drugs that they are finding and often don't know what they are."

Thienes said she believes that the community is capable of combating more
than one drug problem at a time, and through education and prevention Lane
County can overcome its drug problems.

"What I've watched historically over the last 20 years is that it takes a
crisis to wake the community up," she said. "When there's a series of
deaths, then people want to do something."

Instead of rallying around a crisis after it happens, the community needs
to prevent it, Thienes said.

"If we have a house blow up - and I hope this never happens - with children
in it and they're cooking meth, then our community will say we have to do
something about this meth problem," she said. "It's totally reactive
instead of proactive.

"And I'm a believer that we need to be as proactive as possible. Why does
it take loss of life to wake people up."