City Club of Portland forum to discuss meth abuse
Portland, OR (PRWEB) September 10, 2005
At its weekly Friday Forum luncheon on Sept. 23, City Club of Portland presents “Methademic: A Reasoned Look at Public Crisis,” with guest speakers Mark McDonnell, Senior Deputy District Attorney for Multnomah County; Rita Sullivan, Ph. D., Executive Director of OnTrack, Inc., a rehabilitation center in Medford; and Steve Suo, a journalist for The Oregonian who has covered the meth beat extensively.
City ClubÂ’s Friday Forum, which is open to the public, will be held in the Governor Hotel (614 S. W. 11th Ave.). Doors open at 11:30 a. m. Program begins at 12:15 p. m. and concludes at 1:15 p. m. Luncheon reservations must be made online at www. pdxcityclub. org or by calling 503-228-7231, ext. 103 or 102, by 2 p. m. Wed., Sept. 21 (members only may call 503-241-9242). Luncheon tickets are $20 ($16 for members of City Club). Coffee/tea table tickets are $5 at the door. General seating, available at the door, is $5 (free for members of City Club).
Use of methamphetamines — an addictive drug that’s cheap, easy to make and particularly widespread in the Northwest — has far-reaching effects on communities. Obvious consequences for users and manufacturers include illness, injury and death. From 2001 to 2004, meth ranked as the state’s second-deadliest illicit drug, with the number of meth-related deaths increasing from 50 to 78 in that period.
Property owners, too, face financial loss due to damage from fires, explosions, decontamination costs and loss of rent. Police estimate that 85 percent of property crimes and crimes involving identity theft are directly tied to meth use. There are also increased costs to the public for medical services and emergency room use for meth users and producers.
Governments must spend tax dollars on additional law enforcement, prosecution and social services. In fact, one local economic consulting firm pegged Multnomah County’s “meth tax” — the costs of property crimes, fires, incremental foster care, meth lab cleanups of housing and certain health care costs borne by the community at large through direct economic losses, higher insurance premiums and other means — at $363 per household, more than the average 2004 Multnomah County income tax.
Meth use also contributes to domestic violence, child abuse, motor vehicle accidents and the spread of infectious diseases through shared needles and high-risk sexual behavior. And its manufacture degrades environmental quality when hazardous components and byproducts find their way into soil, water and air.
Oregon Partnership’s 2005 Portland Profile reports that meth lab seizures more than doubled in the tri-county area between 2000 and 2004, attributed largely to budget constraints. Statewide, however, the the number of seized meth labs dropped about 50 percent in the five months following the Oregon Board of Pharmacy’s October 2004 adoption of a temporary rule to control consumer access to cold pills that contain ephedrine or pseudoephed-rine — key ingredients in meth production.
The new state law requiring a doctor’s prescription for such medications is one step in a comprehensive community response to a communitywide problem. But what more can be done? Join us to hear first-hand from those working in the field about what this “methademic” means for our community.
A NOTE TO MEDIA
Media are encouraged to attend and are invited to sit in general seating. Please sign in at the registration table on the day of the forum. For broadcast media, an audio press patch will be available, and a riser for videotaping can be provided with advance notice. Contact Tim Krause at 503-228-7231, ext. 102.
ABOUT CITY CLUB OF PORTLAND
City Club of Portland is a nonprofit, nonpartisan civic affairs organization that promotes civic engagement and active citizenship to build a stronger community. Through unbiased research and compelling programs, City Club connects citizens with ideas and issues that affect our community. City Club is open to everyone who wants to interact with other citizens and shape the future of our city and state. For more information about City Club of Portland, visit www. pdxcityclub. org or call 503-228-7231.
ABOUT MARK MCDONNELL
Mark McDonnell is Senior Deputy District Attorney for Multnomah County. Additional biographical material will be available at a later date.
ABOUT RITA SULLIVAN
Sullivan earned a Ph. D in clinical psychology in 1985 and is an Oregon Licensed Psychologist, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Certified Addictions Counselor III and holds a Certification of Proficiency from the American Psychological Association in the Treatment of Alcohol and other Substance Use Disorders.
Sullivan has been with OnTrack, Inc. since 1979 and has directed the agency since 1984. OnTrack is a large nonprofit substance abuse treatment program offering a full compliment of services including: residential treatment for pregnant and parenting women with their children, custodial fathers and their children and adolescent residential; outpatient services for youth and adults, family therapy, domestic violence reeducation, HIV support, affordable drug and alcohol free housing.
ABOUT STEVE SUO
Steve Suo, 37, is a crime reporter with The Oregonian. His five-part series on meth, published last October under the title "Unnecessary Epidemic," showed how the federal government long ago could have contained the spread of the country's methamphetamine epidemic. The series revealed how simple but compelling solutions were delayed, scantly funded, or abandoned time and again, allowing the drug's abuse to spread inexorably from West Coast to East. The series was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting and Harvard University's Goldsmith Award for Investigative Reporting. Slate magazine's media critic, Jack Shafer, last month posted a column urging journalists who write about meth: "Don't, don't, don't write a column inch on the subject before you read The Oregonian's comprehensive methamphetamine package from head to toe."
Suo has worked at The Oregonian since 1994, starting out on the politics beat later moving to the paper's crime team. He specializes in projects that combine statistical analysis with traditional investigative techniques. Some of his major stories have included: a reconstruction of what went wrong in the New Carissa shipwreck response; an early analysis of the costs and benefits of gentrification in Portland; and an in-depth profile of Mark Hemstreet, hotel tychoon and GOP campaign financier. Steve holds a master's degree from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and a bachelor's degree in government from Oberlin College.
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