Study: Meth-related deaths in Oregon up 400%

Landrew

Landrew

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Study: Meth-related deaths in Oregon up 400%
Arielle Brumfield
KTVZ/News Channel 21
6 Feb 2021

Amid a sharp rise in Oregon's methamphetamine-related deaths, Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., wrote a piece for a Portland newspaper Thursday, pleading for more to be done by all involved to fight the drug epidemic.


Walden cited a recent study that listed Oregon as second in the nation for methamphetamine use. In the past 11 years, the number of deaths from meth in Oregon has jumped 400 percent.


Rick Treleaven, chief executive officer of Central Oregon's BestCare Treatment Services, said Thursday methamphetamine use is a problem in our region, but it's now being combined with opioids, while meth use is predominantly seen in the rural areas of Central Oregon.


The Oregon-Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program reported that in 2018, 272 people died from meth-related causes in the state.
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Read the full article here.
 
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In 2018, the number of methamphetamine-related deaths in Oregon reached a historic high of 272, according to the Oregon-Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program’s 2020 drug threat assessment.

That number is nearing the combined total of deaths related to opioid use for Oregon.

Since 2009, the number of methamphetamine deaths in our state has increased by a whopping 400 percent.

rodney-dangerfield-1.jpg
 
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i lived and loved oregon , this 23 yrs ago, things didnt seem so harsh, lots of pot n shroom heads in eugene, but speed didnt seem to be seen so much with in most circles, alot of tree huggers, still picking splinters' outta my nips
 
While methamphetamine is a very dangerous drug, is is important to note that “methamphetamine-related deaths” is not the same thing as “death from methamphetamine”. It varies a bit by jurisdiction but I believe that “methamphetamine-related death” records any death where methamphetamine was detected. So it is more a measure of growing usage.

For example, if you are high and meth and crash your car and kill yourself, that would be recorded as a “methamphetamine-related death”. In some places if you are high and crash your car and kill a sober pedestrian (but not yourself), that can get recorded as a “methamphetamine-related death”.
 
yes, but reread the OP and what I have in bold, this is full on fake news, unless anyone can show me something Im missing. The way they contrast Opiates without indicating the meth deaths were probably mixed with opiates is very deceptive IMO.

There are all kinds of these articles and vids coming out of Oregon.
 
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Landrew said:
In 2018, the number of methamphetamine-related deaths in Oregon reached a historic high of 272, according to the Oregon-Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program’s 2020 drug threat assessment.

That number is nearing the combined total of deaths related to opioid use for Oregon.

Since 2009, the number of methamphetamine deaths in our state has increased by a whopping 400 percent.

ktvz.com

Study: Meth-related deaths in Oregon up 400%

Amid a sharp rise in Oregon's methamphetamine-related deaths, Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., wrote a piece for a Portland newspaper Thursday, pleading for more to be done by all involved to fight the drug epidemic.
ktvz.com ktvz.com
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welcome to BL!
 
Thanks! btw after posting I noticed the link has 2 articles, and the quoted portion is from Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., not the writer of the first very shot article.

It was so short I didnt notice the break, Im a skimmer.
 
It’s a very badly written report - and the journalist or editor reporting on it has used percentages rather than actual numbers to get a clickbait headline that grossly overstates the problem.

I got this from the report (emphasis added)

“Drug-induced deaths in Idaho reached a high of 272 in 2018. Type of drug involved is underreported on Idaho death certificates; only 74% included drug type from 2014 to 2018. Between 2014 and 2018, deaths identified by drug type substantially increased for cocaine (+700%), fentanyl/U-47700 (+186%), heroin (+175%), and methamphetamine (+144%). Deaths involving prescription opioids remained high, averaging 63 deaths annually during the 5-year period, but were outpaced by methamphetamine deaths (78) in 2018”

Notably key terms are not defined. Like “drug-induced” vs “drug-involved” - which seem to be used interchangeably. Loose terminology is always a red flag in Government reports - especially law enforcement ones:

So the very best estimate is that the number of deaths directly caused by the consumption of methamphetamine in the whole state in 2018 was: 78 people. Which is approximately a 1.4X increase over five years.

Hardly a public health emergency (as far as fatalities go. And I would have hypothesise that the majority of deaths involved underlying health conditions that were intreated because people can’t afford decent health care and let chronic conditions develop.
 
the source of that clickbait headline to grossly overstate the problem as far as I can see is Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore.

the Oregon portion starts after Idaho in the source study , and while there are quite a few more deaths in Oregon, you are still probably right it is overstating the problem deceitfully, thanks for the input

As for what they can blame on Meth, If they will do what goes on in what i link to below in court when they already look bad, imagine what they will do when nobody is looking:
Karch, an expert in how drugs affect the heart, testified for the defense for $750 an hour. He disputed the Orange County coroner's finding that Thomas died of lack of oxygen to the brain caused by chest compression and facial injuries.
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Kelly Thomas trial: Pathologist testifies meth use killed Thomas | ABC7 Chicago | abc7chicago.com

The defense rested its case in the trial of two ex-Fullerton police officers charged in the beating death of Kelly Thomas.
abc7chicago.com
 
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Atomic_Decay said:
It’s a very badly written report - and the journalist or editor reporting on it has used percentages rather than actual numbers to get a clickbait headline that grossly overstates the problem.

I got this from the report (emphasis added)

“Drug-induced deaths in Idaho reached a high of 272 in 2018. Type of drug involved is underreported on Idaho death certificates; only 74% included drug type from 2014 to 2018. Between 2014 and 2018, deaths identified by drug type substantially increased for cocaine (+700%), fentanyl/U-47700 (+186%), heroin (+175%), and methamphetamine (+144%). Deaths involving prescription opioids remained high, averaging 63 deaths annually during the 5-year period, but were outpaced by methamphetamine deaths (78) in 2018”

Notably key terms are not defined. Like “drug-induced” vs “drug-involved” - which seem to be used interchangeably. Loose terminology is always a red flag in Government reports - especially law enforcement ones:

So the very best estimate is that the number of deaths directly caused by the consumption of methamphetamine in the whole state in 2018 was: 78 people. Which is approximately a 1.4X increase over five years.

Hardly a public health emergency (as far as fatalities go. And I would have hypothesise that the majority of deaths involved underlying health conditions that were intreated because people can’t afford decent health care and let chronic conditions develop.
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I wrote in another post recently I can’t find but was going to repost..

I did some work in overdose mortality statistics with Health Canada last year and got pretty acquainted with the subject. You can’t compare meth with fentanyl while not including the opiate factor in the meth numbers and also not including other opiates with the fentanyl numbers. It’s extremely misleading. I’m not sure these are the same numbers posted earlier, didn’t read OP honestly but whatever. Meth is included in about 25% of overdose mortality deaths, and the majority of those are opiate related concurrently. In US.
 
A less informed person faced with the same stats may think they are all killing each other off because of meth psychosis and dementia.

Btw, why I got interested in this witch hunt:

I had to cut off contact with my dad because he is convinced I have too severe of dementia to go to trades school, but instead of showing genuine concern he was trolling me over it.

Ive used meth regularly for near 5 years, with a year break in the middle - but this was 2 years ago and well into my meth vacation

also I dont like being over amped and dont do big doses - smoke 2-3 points on first day of binge and half that for the rest of the binge, and thats for medicre street meth.

, hadnt touched it in a year when he was trolling me over a diesel mechanic course.
 
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Landrew said:
A less informed person faced with the same stats may think they are all killing each other off because of meth psychosis and dementia.

Btw, why I got interested in this witch hunt:

I had to cut off contact with my dad because he is convinced I have too severe of dementia to go to trades school, but instead of showing genuine concern he was trolling me over it.

Ive used meth regularly for near 5 years, with a year break in the middle - but this was 2 years ago and well into my meth vacation

also I dont like being over amped and dont do big doses - smoke 2-3 points on first day of binge and half that for the rest of the binge, and thats for medicre street meth.

, hadnt touched it in a year when he was trolling me over a diesel mechanic course.
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Dementia? How old are you? You sound pretty young.

There is a thing called early-onset dementia but by ‘early’ that is usually in people’s 50’s. And it’s not that common, while regular old-age dementia is increasing mainly because people are living well into their 80s and 90s.

What symptoms do you have? There are lots of neurological and other conditions that can cause dementia-like symptoms and many of them are very treatable.

There’s a pretty high chance that whatever you have going on had nothing to do with meth.
 
Im 53 and I don't have any symptoms of dementia. ADHD makes me sound young I think.

I forgot I dont want to potentially shame my family by bringing this up online. Not that they are coming here, just need to keep the rule simple.
 
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