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Above: Ron listens to a question from the audience
during a roundtable meeting to discuss the meth
epidemic in Lane, Linn and Benton counties. On the
table in front of Ron are some of the common
household supplies used to make meth.
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Eugene,
OR -- Ron convened a roundtable
with local law enforcement officials, prosecutors, treatment
providers and others to discuss the growing meth epidemic
in Lane, Linn and Benton counties.
The Oregon Department of Human Services has reported that
meth use is the biggest drug problem facing Oregon child
welfare today. While law enforcement officers close record
numbers of clandestine labs, methamphetamine use in communities
continues to increase.
Ron and U.S. Senator Gordon Smith are
cosponsors of the Combat
Meth Act, which makes critical funding available
to states for equipment, training for law enforcement
agents and prosecutors to bring legal action against
meth offenders and clean up meth labs; the bill also
has drug treatment and child welfare components. Much
of the discussion at the Eugene roundtable focused on
the provisions of the proposed bill.
“We
are not going to sacrifice any more Oregon children
to the meth epidemic. They don't deserve to have
a life scarred by meth.”
-- U.S. Senator Ron Wyden |
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Above:
Roundtable participants included (l-r): Lucy
Zamarelli, Director of Research and Youth
Programs for Willamette Valley Treatment Center;
Alex Gardner, Senior Deputy District
Attorney for Lane County; Dr. Carol Chervenak,
Medical Director of ABC House; Ron;
Russel Burger, Lane County Sheriff;
Blake Rice, President of the
Oregon Board of Pharmacy; and Rob Bovett,
Legal Counsel for the Oregon Narcotics Enforcement
Association. |
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