There are recent stories in the news about meth use changing and sabotaging Oregon. The state’s mental health system seems to be the main focus. Treatment and the criminal justice system has always been where time and effort has been in the past. Oregon has the highest rate of meth use in the nation.
A video showing meth use was created 2006 in Portland is one of the first videos online about the subject. The documentary entitled Meth Around is stacked with information provided in a way that could be understood by novice to the subject.
Meth Around can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/aVfzdEljwrQ
A recent report shows the in 2020, Oregon jumped from having the ninth highest rate of meth use in the country to the highest, according to the most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health data. The volume of meth confiscated on Oregon highways saw a 75% increase between 2016 and 2020, according to drug trafficking reports.
In addition, Meth-related emergency department visits in Oregon climbed about 20% in both urban and rural areas between 2018 and 2021, and last year, urban hospitals alone saw more than 16,000 meth-related emergency department visits, according to Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems data.
The focus on the drug and its connection to psychotic behavior prompted Oregon lawmakers to adopt the country’s first ban on over-the-counter sales of ephedrine, the plant-based main ingredient for the small-scale local manufacturing then dominating the market. Congress soon followed suit.
In recent news based on a recent Lund report, meth the drug is driving severe mental illness among criminal defendants at the state psychiatric hospital, and other patients are paying the price. With symptoms like paranoia, delusions and hallucinations, it’s difficult for practitioners to differentiate between mental illnesses like schizophrenia and those that are meth induced. A common characteristic is for the afflicted person to believe someone or something is after them. At its worst, this can result in aggressive and even violent behavior.
