cannabisnews.com: Oregon Faces Its Own War on Drugs 





Oregon Faces Its Own War on Drugs 
Posted by FoM on April 27, 2002 at 08:09:07 PT
By Ashbel S. Green
Source: Oregonian
Asa Hutchinson, director of the Drug Enforcement Administration, made the second stop on a 32-state tour to increase awareness of the growing problem of methamphetamine abuse. "Oregon is typical in the sense that you have methamphetamine that is locally produced in small quantities," Hutchinson said. "And it's also typical that you have meth that is brought in from the super-labs in California. What is unique and different in Oregon is that there is a growing number of super-labs that are actually here." 
Meanwhile, John P. Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, was in Oregon to tout President George W. Bush's national drug strategy and review existing programs that receive federal money, such as Portland's drug court. Walters, the nation's "Drug Czar," said Bush wants to use a combination of treatment, enforcement and education to reduce drug use by 10 percent in the next two years and 25 percent in the next five years. "There are too many people in America using drugs," he told the editorial board of The Oregonian. After making separate appearances in the morning, Hutchinson and Walters joined up in the afternoon to conduct an aerial tour of meth labs that have been raided in Marion County. They kicked off National Drug Court Month in Salem and spoke in Portland at a dinner sponsored by the Oregon Partnership, a non-profit alcohol and drug prevention group. Hutchinson, visiting the state at the request of Rep. Darlene Hooley, D-Ore., said Interstate 5, with its easy access up and down the coast, and Oregon's close proximity to Canada have contributed to the increase in methamphetamine production. Pseudoephedrine, one of the ingredients in manufacturing meth, is unregulated in Canada, Hutchinson said. Meth-makers transport the drug along I-5, he said, increasingly setting up labs in Oregon rather than taking the drugs all the way to California. "A month ago, at a lab seized here in Oregon, they found 5,000 bottles of pseudoephedrine from Canada," he said. Hutchinson hailed Oregon for passing laws making it more difficult for smaller manufacturers to get pseudoephedrine and increasing the penalties for making meth. "Oregon should be applauded for really exemplary legislation," he said. In his national tour, Hutchinson plans to address each state's methamphetamine problem and discuss solutions. In Oregon, methamphetamine use increased by 34 percent from 1995 to 1997. From 1997 to 2000, 41 people from Oregon died from methamphetamine use, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Walters said nationwide drug numbers are a big concern to Bush, particularly juvenile drug abuse. Of the 4.5 million people with drug problems, 23 percent are teens, he said. In February, Bush announced he would focus not just on stemming the production of drugs but on attacking drug use as well. That's the policy behind a series of ads stating that money spent on drugs ends up supporting terrorist groups that sell drugs to fund their activities. "We just want people to take responsibility for the choices they make," Walters said. In addition to educational programs, the Bush plan seeks to increase money for law enforcement and treatment of drug abusers, Walters said. "I certainly don't think that a jail cell is a treatment bed," he said. Walters said that at the time of his hiring last year, Bush suggested he watch the movie, "Traffic," which stars Michael Douglas as a newly appointed drug czar who discovers his daughter is an addict. Walters acknowledged that the movie was powerful but said it seemed to say the war on drugs was hopeless, a message that undermines the effort to fight drugs. "I think it's too negative," he said. "We believe (Bush's goals of drug use reduction) are achievable." Note: Top federal drug enforcement and policy officials toured Oregon Friday, touting new plans and reviewing old ones. Source: Oregonian, The (OR)Author: Ashbel S. GreenPublished: April 27, 2002Copyright: 2002 The OregonianContact: letters news.oregonian.comWebsite: http://www.oregonlive.com/Related Articles:U.S. Drug Czar Visits Oregon http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12648.shtmlThe Other Drug War - John Waltershttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12611.shtmlAsa Has Left the Buildinghttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12436.shtml
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Comment #3 posted by Jose Melendez on April 27, 2002 at 12:51:13 PT:
safest? hmmm...
The sublingual (under the tongue) method that GW Pharm is working on would probably be easier to self-titrate. 
Jose Melendez
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Comment #2 posted by p4me on April 27, 2002 at 12:28:39 PT
Let me figure this out
Let's say I want treatment for marijuana. Which I agree that there are respitory and heart concerns for someone my age that also smoked about 15 years. I want a safe medicine. The safest medicine I could think of is made by GW Pharmacueticals in the UK and is a pill form of whole cannabis. That is the safest treatment for what I am trying to fix. I want those pills to help me with my problem. Starve the economy and have a thrifty meal. VAAI
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Comment #1 posted by BGreen on April 27, 2002 at 09:31:03 PT
Pssst ... Hey, John ... Bush was trying ...
to tell you something. He knew the WOD was hopeless when he hired your sorry ass. You watched the movie and didn't get it. It's over. You're over. You might as well practice this line, "Do you want fries with that," because that's where you're headed.
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