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Drugs analyzed, explained
through University facility
By TOM WOLFE v
Of the Emerald
Having outgrown its old facility,
the University Drug Information
Center (DIC) has moved to more
spacious quarters at 1763 Moss
St. and plans expanded services
for the coming year.
"Our outreach has expanded
tremendously,” explains Director
Mark Miller. “We ll be doing every
thing we’ve done in the past only
in greater volume.”
The center provides students,
residents, schools and local gov
ernment agencies with informa
tion and training to help them cope
with the tremendous growth in
drug technology
It all started in 1972 when Miller,
as a University student, managed
to get $800 to print a manual he
had written describing emergency
procedures for drug overdose
cases
Now, five years later, the center
runs on a budget of over $100,000
(counting federal publication do
nations) and has become the
state's only public service agency
specializing in drug information.
No longer simply a student pro
ject, the center is now part of the
University Health Education De
partment and provides drug in
formation throughout the state.
Miller estimates that the DIC
has given individual referral or in
formation service to 70,000 peo
ple during its five-year history. In
formation is given out over the
telephone (686-5411) or to walk
ins from the center’s extensive
files and library In addition the
center offers anonymous drug
analysis through a laboratory in
California.
To use the analysis service,
free to persons from Lane. Ben
ton, Coos and Jackson Counties,
a person simply calls the center
for an identification number and
sends a drug sample directly to
the laboratory for analysis. Re
sults are returned to the center in
three to five days and may be re
ceived confidentially by calling the
center for the lab results corres
ponding to your number
The center also distributes fed
eral information and has im
mediate access to three federal
computer information services —
all free to University students and
residents of the four counties fund
ing the center
Drug technology has simply
outgrown our ability to deal with it,
says Miller. There are 1,000 new
drugs coming on the market each
year and the average person is
exposed to about 600 chemical
drugs in a month, through food,
cosmetics, cleaners and medica
tion.
Miller estimates there are cur
rently 100,000 over-the-counter
drugs on the market and 15,000
prescription drugs. The bulk of
these have come into use in the
last 20 years, he notes
"The outcome is that we misuse
drugs because we never teach
people how to use them. This is
where the center fits in,' Miller ex
plains.
Its war on drug ignorance and
misinformation has been ac
r
claimed nationally by an HEW
award for new and innovative pub
lic service and supported increas
ingly by the University, community
and state.
“It used to be that when we
mentioned drugs people assumed
we were talking about marijuana
and LSD. Now when we speak be
fore the Rotary Club or some other
downtown group people are more
open to the idea that drug informa
tion is a consumer safety issue
that affects everyone," Miller
says.
■
Mark Miller
Traditionally, the University has
been the center of activity for the
DIC, but its work off-campus has
steadily grown.
Staff from the center speak loc
ally to community groups or
schools at a rate of more than one
a day. They help educate Eugene
police in identification of drugs
currently being used and how to
give emergency attention to peo
ple found misusing them.
“We haven't found arsenic or
poison in drugs since we started,'
says Miller, “but we have come
across other problems." One of
these was a drug fraud going on
soon after the center started
Retirement-age people were
going to Mexico with hopes of ob
taining "miracle crugs" not availa
ble in the United States. Several
analyses through the center s free
drug analysis service showed the
so-called wonder drugs were ac
tually disguised U S. prescription
drugs.
Since that time the center has
been able to warn of several other
harmful or fraudulent drug sales,
and Miller believes they have
"kept a lot of people from being
ripped off or ending up in the hos
pital."
The director encourages any
one interested in either preventing
drug abuse or simply learning
more about drugs they come in
contact with to drop by the
center's new location to look
through files, pick up literature or
talk with the staff
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