Pubdate: Fri, 05 May 2000
Source: Oregonian, The (OR)
Copyright: 2000 The Oregonian
Contact:  1320 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97201
Fax: 503-294-4193
Website: http://www.oregonlive.com/
Forum: http://forums.oregonlive.com/
Author: Mark Larabee, DEATHS FROM ILLEGAL DRUGS DECLINE

Oregon Statistics Show Fewer Died In The First Quarter Of 2000 Compared With
'99

Deaths from illegal drugs were down 34 percent in the first three months of
the year compared with last year's record-high first quarter, although more
people died in the first three months of 2000 than in any other quarter
recorded before 1999.

According to statistics from the Oregon state medical examiner, 53 people
died from drug-related causes in the first three months of the year, down
from 80 in the same period last year.

Dr. Karen Gunson, state medical examiner, said the recent figures were
encouraging because 1999 saw yet another year of unprecedented increases in
drug deaths. But she cautioned that the short-interval decrease, part of a
slow slide that began last summer, should not be taken as a sign that the
problem of drug deaths has gone away.

"I'm not going to cheer very much," Gunson said. "In the next quarter they
may go back up. We must remember that one quarter statistics in no way
reflects a trend."

Gunson has been outspoken on the issue of drug deaths, especially those
caused by heroin, Oregon's worst killer among the illegal drugs. The
substance, black tar heroin imported from Mexico, is cheap and readily
available throughout the West.

Last year, Gunson was among a group of health workers, police, social
workers and former heroin addicts who held several workshops on the issue of
heroin deaths in an attempt to get at the root of the problems and devise a
response.

Education among addicts was one response. Although Gunson isn't positive
that the campaign reached Portland's 15,000 heroin addicts, deaths among
heroin users dropped from 70 in the first quarter of 1999 to 38 in 2000 -- a
45 percent decrease.

Cocaine-related deaths dropped 10 percent from 20 in the first quarter of
1999 to 18 this year. Deaths attributed to methamphetamine remained
unchanged at nine for the first quarters of both 1999 and 2000.
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