The Lane County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a new comprehensive plan for fighting meth in Lane County Tuesday.
City and county leaders came together to support the plan for addressing the problem of methamphetamine abuse for a county where 90 percent of the 2,500 new felony drug cases that the district attorney’s office currently receives each year involve meth.
The plan focuses on law enforcement, the court system, treatment and supervision, public awareness and prevention. In
addition, the plan advocates management of the drug’s unique consequences, including the toxic contamination of residences and the environment that results from meth labs, and the effect of meth exposure on children.
While some of the programs within the plan are ready to go, most are dependent on additional funds that the county will request from voters on the November ballot.
“Very few of these can take place without more funding,” Lane County Commissioner Faye Stewart said.
Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy applauded the plan’s emphasis on prevention.
“It’s well documented that prevention efforts save money in the long run,” Piercy said.
The treatment programs recommended by the plan would provide additional supervision, detox and treatment services, and would increase the capacity of programs providing job-skills training and educational opportunities to jail inmates.
Lane County Sheriff Russ Burger cited prevention and treatment as key to fighting meth by lowering demand. Even with diligent law enforcement shutting down local labs and new restrictions placed on medicines that contain ingredients for meth, Burger said new sources of the drug will continually emerge as long as the local demand remains high.
Lane County Circuit Judge Darryl Larson named methamphetamine as a major factor in Lane County’s high crime rates.
Lane County currently averages 115 arrests for serious crimes and 105 drug abuse arrests per 10,000 adults. The national average per 10,000 adults is 60 arrests for a serious crime and 55 drug abuse arrests, according to the plan. As of March 2006, at least 60 percent of the individuals actively supervised by Parole and Probation have used meth. Larson said that Lane County also has only half the national average of police officers per capita, which may indicate that crime levels are even higher.
“Because of meth, our current arrest rate for violent crime is double the national average,” Larson said.
To deal with the increased crime associated with methamphetamine, the new plan would create a new Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team to target drug manufacturing and distribution operations, and provide funding to help the district attorney’s office prosecute drug crimes. It would add new deputy and detective positions, and open up more beds in existing jail and juvenile detention facilities. The plan would also
provide additional resources for the Adult Drug Court, a treatment-oriented alternative to the general court system, and would restore Peer Courts for juvenile offenders in six communities.
The plan was unanimously approved Tuesday by the Lane County Board of Commissioners after months of work.
“What I find encouraging is how our community has come together to solve the meth crisis,” Stewart said.