DRUG ABUSE IN SEATTLE AREA IS TOWN HALL MEETING TOPIC

The incidence of drug abuse in Seattle and surrounding areas has prompted
the National Institute on Drug Abuse to sponsor a Town Meeting in Seattle
next week to discuss the latest trends and treatments for addiction.

The institute, which is one of the National Institutes of Health, has
conducted similar town meetings in other urban areas. Seattle is one of 21
metropolitan areas the institute has been tracking.

"We do have a significant problem," said Norma Jaeger, chief of treatment
and rehabilitation for the Division of Mental Health and Chemical Abuse and
Dependency Services in King County.

"In King County, heroin is a major concern. And we're significantly
concerned about an increase in marijuana use in young people," she said.

Methamphetamine use is also growing, although primarily in smaller
communities outside Seattle.

However, King County's problems are similar to those in other urban areas,
she said.

Washington has a slightly lower rate of alcohol-related deaths, compared
with the national average and a slightly higher rate of deaths related to
other drug use, said Fred Garcia, chief of the Office of Program Services
of the Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse in the Department of Social
and Health Services. "But for the most part, it's pretty much in line with
the rest of the country."

There are a few pockets of concern, however.

According to the June 1999 NIDA report of drug abuse in 21 cities, Seattle
was one of the areas reporting an increase in young heroin users.

Also in Seattle, deaths from opiates other than heroin (such as codeine)
nearly doubled between 1997 and 1998 from 1.5 to 2.6 per 100,000.

Other drug use is on the rise as well, Jaeger said.

Anecdotal reports indicate that ecstasy use is increasing, and there have
been a growing number of anecdotal accounts of overdoses related to the
club drug GHB (gamma-hydroxybutrate).

About 91 percent of drug-related deaths involve multiple substances, which
is also true in other major metropolitan areas, Jaeger said.

The report also found that 57 percent of women and 36 percent of men
arrested in Seattle test positive for cocaine, a finding that is typical of
urban areas.

The town meeting, which is open to the public, will be Nov. 10th from 8:30
a.m. to 5 p.m. at the DoubleTree Hotel Seattle Airport. Cost is $25.

"We know from research that drug abuse is a preventable behavior, and drug
addiction is a treatable illness," said NIDA Director Dr. Alan Leshner, who
will speak at the meeting. "One of NIDA's most important goals is to help
the public better understand the nature of addiction and the means to
prevent and treat it."

Seattle Mayor Paul Schell; King County Executive Ron Sims; Lt. Governor
Brad Owen; U.S. Rep. James McDermott; Ken Stark, director of the Division
of Substance Abuse Services; and University of Washington researchers are
scheduled to participate.