HEROIN BLAMED IN BULK OF OREGON DRUG DEATHS

The Oregon medical examiner's office released annual statistics Tuesday
showing that heroin overdose deaths dropped 15 percent in 2000 but
methamphetamine-related deaths were up 30 percent.

Despite the decrease, heroin claimed more lives than any other drug across
the state and in Lane County. There were 130 heroin-related deaths in
Oregon in 2000, a decrease from the 195 in 1999. Twenty of the deaths in
2000 occurred in Lane County.

Across the state, 56 people died from methamphetamine-related causes, up
from 43 the year before. Most lived in the three-county Portland
metropolitan area.

Overall, 209 people died statewide from drug-related causes last year -
down from the 246 in 1999. In Lane County, 41 people died from drug-related
causes in 2000 compared with 51 deaths the previous year.

Lane County's statistics, released two weeks ago, generally mirrored the
state's trends but were even more dramatic.

The county reported a 40 percent decrease in heroin-related deaths - while
methamphetamine-related deaths climbed to eight in 2000 from one in 1999,
said Frank Ratti, Lane County deputy medical examiner.

"What's true is that (the state's) heroin deaths have gone down and our
heroin deaths have gone down and their methamphetamine deaths went up and
our methamphetamine deaths went up," he said. "We follow the state."

The jump in methamphetamine-related deaths means that the drug has found a
growing base of users.

"Heroin is the one we see most often because it's the most deadly drug,"
said Dr. Karen Gunson, state medical examiner. "But with meth there are
just so many more people using it it's bound to catch up."

While the overall numbers of deaths are down, Gunson said there's nothing
to cheer about.

"It's still the fourth-highest year," she said. "As far as taking a big
bite out of drug overdose deaths, we're not."