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F~ec~era~Priorities 2007 Pubic Safety ~Iustice : 'i <br />The other four complementary components of the Meth Abatement Initiative are as follows: <br />3. Public Awareness: Forma local meth task force to develop key messages, media plan, and <br />outreach efforts. <br />4. Prevention: Implement multiple, research-based strategies targeted at a variety of age <br />groups in different settings (i.e., Relief Nurseries, Court-Appointed Special Advocates, <br />mentoring, community coalitions, and .school-based efforts). <br />5. Courts: Expand Drug Court treatment options and peer courts across the county. <br />6. Management of Meth's Unique Consequences: Work with partners to mitigate <br />environmental hazards of meth labs. <br />In Lane County, 3 percent of eighth-grade students have used methamphetamine within the last <br />30 days. The percentage of female youths being admitted for meth treatment has risen <br />57 percent since 1999. Treatment providers are experiencing a steady increase in demand for <br />meth treatment. In 2004, 2,062 Lane County adults and 160 youth entered treatment identifying <br />methamphetamine as a drug of choice. Adult and youth meth users differ in that more <br />adolescent girls are using meth at a higher rate than their adult counterparts. There are no <br />residential drug treatment beds for young girls in Lane County, and residential beds for boys are <br />limited to adolescent boys on probation. <br />In addition, there is a lengthy waiting list for people demanding treatment. From July through <br />December 2006, an average of 205 adults and 15 youth remained on a waiting list each month <br />to enter outpatient treatment, while an additional 43 women, 31 men, and 6 girls. waited for <br />residential treatment each month. This only reflects those people who have actually placed their <br />name on a waiting list, and does not include the number of people who might be so discouraged <br />by the process that they do not actively seek a waiting list. For residential treatment, the time it <br />takes for women to actually get into services is currently 3-4 months, with men having to wait <br />even longer (there are fewer treatment slots for men than for women). <br />Funding Request <br />In the next year, Lane County proposes to enhance the attack on meth by expanding the <br />community's anemic drug treatment capacity and to enhance enforcement as well as <br />corrections programs. The need to identify and respond to meth-caused problems that increase <br />recidivism is crucial: <br />• Lane County drug treatment. providers are unable to meet the increased and unique needs <br />of the growing meth users. The county requests $750,000 to both expand the availability of <br />treatment in Lane County and to assist providers to enhance the local treatment by <br />incorporating emerging research in the best. practices for treating meth addiction. This <br />project will fund about 100 drug outpatient treatment slots. and 12 residential treatment beds, <br />especially for meth addicts. Eight of those beds would serve adults and four would be for <br />adolescent girls. This additional capacity would provide outpatient services to 300 additional <br />individuals per year and residential services to about 48 additional individuals per year. <br />Approximately 90 percent of law enforcement agencies in the I~acific Region report that <br />methamphetamine is the drug that most contributes to property crime in their jurisdictions. <br />32 <br />