Meth plague lingers
Recent Oregon law, though, has slashed overall impact from the illegal substance
By Katie Pizza
Argus Observer
Sunday, March 1, 2009 1:41 AM PST
| |
| KATIE PIZZA | ARGUS OBSERVER
Malheur County Undersheriff Brian Wolfe demonstrates the use of a meth field test kit. Wolfe said he has seen a decrease in the number of methamphetamine labs. |
Ontario—Methamphetamine is still the illegal narcotic of choice locally, and it is a drug that continues to tax not only law enforcement resources but hurt area communities, according to one police official.
The destructiveness of the illegal drug is so widespread, and so serious, that often people have a tendency to look past the impact it has on families, Malheur County Undersheriff Brian Wolfe said Friday.
“It just does so much damage,” he said. “The first usage will always be the highest high, and they’ll have to use more to try to get that same high.”
A good case in point regarding the drug and its impact was a police case last week. The Ontario Police Department assisted the Oregon Department of Human Services in response to information regarding drugs being sold and used in the presence of a 4-year-old at an Ontario apartment complex.
OPD officers entered the apartment complex, situated at 1133 Fortner St., at around noon Thursday and arrested Victoria Patterson, 30, Ontario, the 4-year-old’s mother, for possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine.
Patterson was also sought on a Malheur County Justice Warrant for failure to comply, no operator’s license and and no insurance. Patterson’s probation officer also placed a detainer on her. Officers also arrested three others who were in the Patterson residence at the time.
Malheur County District Attorney Dan Norris said meth users often have children that become meth users. Meth is different from other addictions like alcoholism, he said, because of the shorter time gap between beginning use and that use becoming apparent to others.
“Within six months, you’re seeing the direct physical signs,” he said.
Norris cited abscesses, opens ores and a loss of teeth as tell-tale signs of a meth user. However, he said meth usage has gone down in recent years, since the passage of an Oregon law that put products containing ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and phenylpropanolamine — chemicals found in certain brands of common cold and allergy medicines — behind the counters of state stores. The 2005 Oregon law could become a model for similar edicts across the nation, with Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) attempting to pass legislation to put certain medications behind the counter in all states. Norris said he supported such a plan and cited the decrease in meth arrests he has seen in the last three to five years after the Oregon law’s passage.
“We used to have a joke around the office that a methamphetamine charge was a lesser included charge of all other crimes,” he said. “We’re not seeing anywhere close to that number of crimes now.” Wolfe said the High Desert Task Force has reported six to eight meth cases in the last three weeks.
“A couple of them have been pretty good ones,” he said. “When I say good, I mean, not good for the community, but good-sized ones.” As for how meth crimes is connected to area illegal syndicates, Norris said the sale of meth does help gangs fund their operations. However, he said that a person selling meth may not be a gang member and vice versa. Ontario Police Chief Mike Kee said the department spends about 30 percent of its time on meth cases. However, he said the amount of time spent on each case varies — from a traffic stop bust to a more lengthy one. Kee said meth cases involving children take longer because DHS gets involved. Meth cases involving children and DHS can sometimes tie up two or three officers for a good half a day, he said.
In other public safety news:
— Misael Villasenor, 35, Ontario, was arraigned Thursday on four counts of delivering methamphetamines, one count of unlawful manufacture of methamphetamines, four counts of child neglect in the first degree and one count of possession of methamphetamines.
— Carolina Garcia, 35, Ontario, was also arraigned Thursday on four counts of child neglect in the first degree and one count of possession of methamphetamines.
Both Villasenor and Garcia will go before a Malheur County Grand Jury Thursday.
