Meth remains by far the No. 1 illicit drug abuse problem in Oregon. But what makes Oregon different from the rest of the nation is that we are on the decline. Other states, including and especially California, are going in exactly the opposite direction. Meth labs are back with a vengeance, everywhere except Oregon.
ARRESTS
From October 1, 2000, to September 30, 2001, there were 3,932 Federal drug arrests for mphetamine/methamphetamine, representing 12% of all Federal drug arrests.
SENTENCING
In FY 2001, the average length of sentence received by Federal methamphetamine offenders was 88.5 months, compared with 115 months for crack cocaine offenders, 77 months for powder cocaine offenders, 63.4 months for heroin offenders, 38 months for marijuana offenders, and 41.1 months for other drug offenders.
During FY 2001, 3,404 Federal drug offenders were convicted of committing an offense involving methamphetamine. Of those convicted of a Federal drug offense for methamphetamine, 59% were white, 35.2% were Hispanic, 4.2% were of another race, and 1.6% were black.
