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The Oregon HIDTA region encompasses eight Oregon counties--Clackamas, Deschutes, Douglas, Jackson, Marion, Multnomah, Umatilla, and Washington. Major transportation routes that facilitate the distribution of licit and illicit goods from domestic and foreign source areas transit each of these counties. Interstate 5 offers a direct north-south route from Canada to Mexico and traverses six of the eight HIDTA counties (Clackamas, Douglas, Jackson, Marion, Multnomah, and Washington). Interstate 84 crosses the state in an east-west direction, connecting the HIDTA counties of Multnomah and Umatilla to drug markets in other states, particularly Idaho. U.S. Highway 97, a north-south route from the U.S.-Canada border to northern California, crosses the state in Deschutes County and is a favored alternative route for drug traffickers attempting to avoid law enforcement scrutiny on I-5. (See Figure 1.) In addition to these roadways, drug traffickers consistently use the state's airways, railways, seaports, and waterways to transport drugs to and through the HIDTA region.
Ice methamphetamine poses the most significant drug threat to the Oregon HIDTA, and according to the Oregon HIDTA, distribution and abuse of the drug have strained existing law enforcement and public health treatment resources. In fact, 19 of the 20 state and local law enforcement agencies in the region that responded to the National Drug Threat Survey (NDTS) 2007 identified methamphetamine as the greatest drug threat to the region. Mexican ice methamphetamine is the predominant type of methamphetamine available in HIDTA counties. Mexican ice methamphetamine has supplanted locally produced powder methamphetamine as local production has decreased sharply in Oregon. Local production decreased after legislation was passed in August 2005 requiring a prescription to purchase medications containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine--the precursor chemicals used in the production of methamphetamine. As local methamphetamine production declined, Mexican DTOs expanded local networks to distribute ice methamphetamine produced in Mexico. Mexican DTOs became--and remain--the primary suppliers of the drug in the HIDTA region. However, progressively tightening restrictions in Mexico on the importation and legitimate distribution of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine beginning in 2005 have reduced methamphetamine production in Mexico, particularly in 2007. As a result, the availability and purity of Mexican methamphetamine have recently decreased in some areas of the HIDTA region. Distributors are increasingly "cutting" the drug--sometimes with baby formula, but typically with methylsulfonylmethane (MSM)--in an attempt to stretch supplies and sustain their profits. (See text box.)
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MSM Used as a Cutting Agent MSM, the common commercial name for the chemical methylsulfonylmethane, is also known as methylsulfone and dimethylsulfone (DMSO2). As a cutting agent for methamphetamine, MSM offers many advantages. Pure MSM is an odorless, white crystalline powder that is highly soluble and mixes readily with most substances without leaving a residue. MSM is usually added to methamphetamine during the final stages of production. Methamphetamine cut with MSM often appears to be uncut because after the chemicals are combined and the mixture cools, the MSM recrystallizes, resembling pure methamphetamine. MSM is readily available in powder and tablet forms at livestock feed and equine tack stores, "super" pet food chains, warehouse stores, human nutrition centers, and upscale grocery stores. MSM is also available through equine and veterinary supply mail order catalogs and on numerous Internet sites. |
Marijuana is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the region, and the threat posed by the drug is increasing. Asian criminal groups have increased their indoor cannabis grow operations in the HIDTA region, particularly since 2005. During this same period Mexican DTOs have increased outdoor cannabis cultivation. According to law enforcement reporting, outdoor cannabis cultivation is increasing, a trend reflected in cannabis eradication data that show an increase in eradication in 2007 to the highest level ever recorded. In fact, outdoor cannabis eradication in the HIDTA region increased by 272.7 percent, from 29,291 plants in 2005 to 109,160 plants in 2007. Indoor cannabis eradication increased by 142 percent, from 5,058 plants in 2005 to 12,239 plants in 2007. Overall, cannabis eradication in the HIDTA region accounts for a significant portion of the plants eradicated statewide. For example, in 2007, 46.3 percent (121,399 of 262,013 plants) of cannabis plants eradicated in Oregon were located in the HIDTA counties.
Cocaine is readily available in the HIDTA counties, and in some areas availability is increasing. According to law enforcement agencies in the Willamette Valley and Portland areas, the availability of powder cocaine is increasing. Crack cocaine is available, distributed, and abused, primarily in urban areas of the HIDTA region, such as Portland. In fact, the Portland Police Department has identified crack cocaine as the greatest drug threat in its area because of the violent crime associated with the distribution and abuse of the drug in the inner city of Portland. However, the Portland Police Department was the only department in the Oregon HIDTA area that reported crack cocaine as its greatest drug threat.
Heroin trafficking and abuse pose significant drug threats in urban areas such as Portland and Salem. According to the Oregon Department of Human Services, Office of Addictions and Mental Health Division, the number of treatment admissions for heroin abuse exceeds the number of admissions for abuse of any other drug in the counties that compose Portland. Heroin abuse is the third leading cause of treatment admissions in Marion County, where Salem is located. (See Figure 9.) Heroin-related deaths are also highest within the counties that compose Portland, which recorded the highest number of heroin-related deaths in the state (64) in 2007, followed by Marion County (12). Heroin is transported into these cities in shipments ranging in size from less than a kilogram to multiple kilograms; such shipments are typically transported via private vehicles.
Club drugs and diverted pharmaceuticals are a growing concern to law enforcement in the HIDTA region. MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also known as ecstasy), GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate), LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), and ketamine (ketamine hydrochloride) are generally abused by teenagers and young adults in the HIDTA region. Club drugs are abused primarily at social venues such as at raves, bars, nightclubs, and private parties in urban areas and on college campuses. According to the Oregon HIDTA, the abuse of MDMA is spreading throughout the region. Another club drug, Foxy Methoxy (5-methoxy-N, N-diisopropyltryptamine), is sometimes available and sold with MDMA, LSD, and psilocybin (hallucinogenic mushrooms); Foxy abuse is sometimes combined with abuse of other drugs, such as cocaine, heroin, marijuana, or methamphetamine. In addition to the increasing threat posed by the trafficking and abuse of club drugs, the abuse of diverted pharmaceutical drugs is occurring at relatively high levels in the HIDTA region, according to the Oregon HIDTA. In fact, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Oregon ranks fourth among all states in the rate of abuse for prescription pain relievers by teenagers. This high level of pharmaceutical abuse among youth is also prevalent in HIDTA counties.
1. For
the purposes of this report, ice methamphetamine refers to
methamphetamine that has been crystallized from powder methamphetamine.
2. Portland
comprises three counties: Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington.
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