Oregon reports some progress against meth scourge.

Byline: Bill Bishop The Register-Guard

By the numbers, Oregon and the nation are making gains in the war against methamphetamine. But the battle rages on.

A state-by-state report released Thursday to mark National Methamphetamine Awareness Day shows East Coast states are beginning to record the upsurge in meth use witnessed years ago in Oregon and other Western states.

New Jersey-based Quest Diagnostics Inc. compared data from workplace drug testing and found that workplace drug use dropped dramatically in the Midwest and the West. But Connecticut and Maine showed surges in use, with the District of Columbia up by 115 percent. The study covered data from the first five months of this year and compared it with the same period last year.

In Oregon, workplace meth use dropped 29 percent in the first five months of this year, compared with the same period in 2005. The data show that 0.46 percent of workplace tests were positive for meth this year, compared with 0.64 percent last year. The data showed 0.66 percent in 2004 and 0.72 percent in 2003. Last year's figure compares to measures in 2000, 2001 and 2002.

In a separate measure, data show a 51 percent drop in the number of meth lab seizures nationwide in the first four months of this year compared with the same period in 2005. The drop is attributed to tougher state and federal regulation of pseudoephedrine, a legal cold treatment that is combined with other chemicals to produce the illegal drug.

Oregon, with the toughest anti-meth-production laws in the nation, has had an 87 percent drop in the number of meth labs busted since it began regulating pseudoephedrine in 2004, according to the report.

But there is no shortage of the drug.

Within a three-day period in November, police in Eugene and Springfield arrested five suspects and seized 14 pounds of the drug, according to local court records. Springfield police found more than $16,000 in cash in the larger bust, which turned up 11 pounds of meth.

The drop in lab seizures means fewer children are living in danger of chemical poisoning and fire, but meth is so portable that it's easy to smuggle interstate and internationally, said Lane County Circuit Judge Doug Mitchell, who oversees the local drug court.

While state leaders have pumped more money recently into intensive treatment for the nonviolent criminal addicts who the drug court deals with, the need remains great, he added. Mitchell's court, founded in 1993, handled 250 people before the Oregon Health Plan stopped covering drug treatment. Today the court handles just over 100 addicts.

Even though data may be suggesting improvement, other factors could be pushing the numbers, according to Gretchen Pierce, a citizen member of the Lane County Public Safety Coordinating Council. Pierce, who spearheaded the council's recent Criminal Justice System Report Card effort, said the major debate about public safety always centers on the reliability of data used in comparisons.

Even if drug use is declining in Oregon, reliable data shows that meth use in Lane County is far above the national average, the state average, and the average of comparable counties - playing a role in about 70 percent of all crime, she said.

"It's still a huge problem," Pierce said. "You can't just stop trying to fight it."

METH AWARENESS While some data show gains in the nation's battle against methamphetamine, the problem remains big in Western states and is growing in the east. Meth labs: Meth lab seizures have fallen dramatically nationally and in Oregon. Meth testing: Employment screening tests show a drop in meth detection in some states, including in Oregon. Meth use: Nationally, meth use remains high and is growing along the East Coast. More information: The full report and efforts to combat meth at www.methresources.gov and www.usdoj.gov/ methawareness - White House Office of National Drug Control Policy