We'd be ahead to assume it's a trend

When a respected indicator of drug abuse recently ranked Seattle first among 21 metropolitan areas in drug-related visits to hospital emergency rooms, local public health officials took pains to point out a few caveats.

The drill goes something like this: Data for the federal Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) is extracted from medical records. No patients are interviewed so it's impossible to tell how many individuals were treated (as opposed to the number of multiple trips by one person). DAWN doesn't measure the prevalence of drug use in the overall population, the untreated health consequences of drug use or the impact of drug use on health care settings other than hospital ERs.

With all that in mind, health officials behaved responsibly by describing the either-or nature of one year's data. Down the road, 2000 could prove to be anomaly or the leading edge of a trend.

Unfortunately, humans, being who they are, interpret cautionary notes -- meaningful though they may be -- as justification for waiting a year, or two, or five, in the hope that the next round of numbers won't be as dire. Pondering whether to react is naturally less taxing than reacting.

But within this DAWN report are several Seattle-centric statistics that argue for another course, that being direct action to put more money into drug prevention, education and treatment on the city, county and state level.

For starters, consider the number that made the usually antiseptic report newsworthy in the first place. The Seattle area not only had a 32 percent increase in drug-related ER visits over one year, but that jump was the highest in any of the 21 metropolitan areas covered by DAWN. And while seven areas recorded increases, 14 did not.

Viewed through another lens, 563 of every 100,000 Seattle area residents were physically or psychologically disturbed enough by the effects of an illicit drug to seek help at an emergency room. That's in comparison with the national average of 192 per 100,000 population.

Another DAWN category where Seattle distinguishes itself is trends in the four major illicit drugs of abuse -- cocaine, heroin/morphine, methamphetamine/speed and marijuana/hashish.

This area was among five that showed increases in use of three of the four drugs. Here the drugs were cocaine, methamphetamine/speed and marijuana/hashish. (For a city that came to be known as the country's heroin capital in the '90s, the absence of that drug on this list is cause for celebration -- unless, of course, that later proves to be an anomaly.)

The most worrisome number in this category is the 53 percent increase in meth-induced hospital visits. The stimulant is now considered the most dangerous illegal drug in Washington state because of its enormously addictive nature and the threat that its toxic components pose to the physical environment. The enormous upswing is more evidence that Seattle/King County has been unable to resist the stimulant that established its base in neighboring Pierce County only a decade ago.

The sheer volumes in the 2000 DAWN report are dangerous in that they collectively mask the individual casualties of these drugs. Behind every hospital visit is a tale of personal diminution, ongoing drain on family and friends, lost productivity at work, and multiple costs to taxpayers.

All these argue for action, even at the risk of overreaction. What's the worst that could happen if a year from now, the 2000 figures prove to be a fluke and state legislators have already reformed draconian drug laws that emphasize incarceration over treatment? Or if city/county officials have provided more methadone treatment for heroin addicts? Or if "club drugs" were not so prevalent at all-night raves?

We'd be that much further along in solving the drug problem, that's what.

Add P-I Opinion headlines to