Page 14
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, November 21, 2007
All bomb warnings taken Fewer violent deaths in state, but suicides on rise
of
The report also found
suicides.
were white.
seriously to protect kids violent While deaths the in number
Oregon de-
that 16 percent of the suicides
*Homicide deaths de-
*Nearly half of all vio-
Although there is a his-
tory of bomb threats at county
schools, including a rash of
them involving Illinois Valley
High School (IVHS) recently,
no explosive devices have
ever been found.
And yet, each incident
needs appropriate response,
and such threats are taken
quite seriously, said Jose-
phine County Sheriff Gil
Gilbertson.
“Each year the county’s
three high schools experience
approximately two to three
bomb threats,” he said.
“These threats remain consis-
tent in their content, delivery
method and end result. De-
spite the threats experienced
each year, no bombs or an
indication of an explosive
device has ever been found
on or near school grounds in
Josephine County.
“There is no indication in
the current investigation of
the recent threats,” the sheriff
continued, “that suggest that
student, faculty or visitors to
IVHS were actually placed in
danger.”
He stressed that the sher-
iff’s office, in partnership
with Three Rivers School
District (TRSD), “take these
threats very seriously.”
Said Gilbertson, “When
any school in our jurisdiction
receives a threat of this na-
ture, the school district and
sheriff’s office take immedi-
ate steps to first and foremost
safeguard the students. A
search of the entire school is
conducted, and should any
suspicious item be found, it is
removed as soon as possible
and as safely as possible.
“Each case is being in-
vestigated, and it is our policy
to hold the offenders respon-
sible to the fullest extent of
the law.”
He added that the sher-
iff’s office and school district
are “struggling to spread re-
source dollars as far as they
can -- and this means that
each time there is a bomb
Josephine County Sher-
iff Gil Gilbertson (Photo by
Illinois Valley News)
threat “It becomes an enor-
mous drain on already scare
manpower and resources.
“It disrupts school activi-
ties and causes other impor-
tant community issues to be
postponed,” the sheriff said.
“Students of the very school
being affected are most often
the persons responsible for
bomb threats.
“In each case thus far,
these perpetrators never in-
tended to actually place an
explosive device on school
grounds, nor did they have
the ability to do so. In all the
cases investigated so far, the
perpetrator’s motivation for
this senseless act was to dis-
rupt the school day and cause
confusion.
“Nonetheless,” said the
sheriff, “we will continue to
take proper steps to respond
appropriately to each threat,
with our top priority being the
safety of our students. We
also will continue to investi-
gate each and every event
with emphasis on holding
those responsible to the full-
est extent of the law.”
He said that there is pro-
gress in the investigation, and
that those who can help with
leads should phone the Major
Crimes Unit at 474-5153 or
the anonymous tip line at
474-5160.
I.V. threat suspect ...
(Continued from page 1)
especially to staff. Because
threats have been found written
on walls in restrooms, students
now are escorted to use them.
Backpacks are checked
when students arrive, and
they are not allowed to enter
in large groups.
Also, lockers have been
sealed. They may be made
available to the student body
during the next several
weeks.
JCSO said that its detec-
tive work will lead them to
suspects in the other explo-
sive alerts. Arrests are antici-
pated soon, said JCSO.
IVHS staffers say that
besides reducing attendance,
the threats have disrupted the
normal school routine. Many
students have missed classes.
“We’re fed up with these
threats,” said one IVHS offi-
cial, “and we hope that those
responsible for the other
threats also will be caught.”
There also was a bomb
James Guthrie (Photo
from his MySpace page)
threat at Lorna Byrne Middle
School. A note was found on
Tuesday, Nov. 13. As a re-
sult, two girls each were sus-
pended for 10 days, according
to JCSO.
Bomb threats, besides
disrupting student routine,
involve emergency respond-
ers, plus school and Three
Rivers School District staff.
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clined slightly during 2005, a
new report by the Oregon
Dept. of Human Services
finds that suicide remains a
public health problem, par-
ticularly among veterans of
the military.
According to the report,
“Violent Deaths in Oregon:
2005,” 748 Oregonians suf-
fered violent deaths that year,
which is down from 771 vio-
lent deaths during 2004. Vio-
lent death is the second-
leading cause of death among
Oregonians under age 45, and
the ninth leading cause
among all Oregonians.
Suicide remains the lead-
ing cause of violent deaths,
accounting for 74 percent, or
555 persons. Homicide was
the second, accounting for
103 or 13.8 percent of violent
deaths.
Suicide rates were higher
among military veterans than
the general population. The
report found that during 2005,
28 percent of all suicides, or
153 adults, were among vet-
erans, 148 of whom were
male. Age-adjusted rates of
suicide per 100,000 male
veterans were more than
twice those of nonveteran
males, 46 per 100,000 vs. 22
per 100,000.
were among older adults and
that Oregon’s suicide rate
among older adults was 78
percent higher than the na-
tional average.
Deaths relating to Ore-
gon’s Death with Dignity Act
are not classified as suicides
by Oregon law. They are not
included in the report.
The Violent Death report
makes a series of recommen-
dations to address the suicide
issue among veterans. They
include strategies to train
health-care providers; in-
crease screening and treat-
ment of depression; imple-
ment community-based pre-
vention activities; and focus
on reducing suicides among
veterans and Oregonians aged
25 to 65.
The report notes:
*Gunshot wound was the
most common cause of death,
accounting for nearly 54 per-
cent of total violent deaths.
Poisoning (21 percent) and
hanging followed.
*The 748 violent deaths
occurred in 731 incidents. Of
those, 714 incidents involved
one death, and 17 incidents
involved more than one
death. Among the 17 inci-
dents involving multiple
deaths, 11 were homicide-
Private rehab organization
questions drug war victory
By NARCONON
ARROWHEAD
Some speeches or arti-
cles relate how America is
winning the war on drugs.
Our own government's statis-
tics show a different story.
The following is from
the Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Ad-
ministration, which annually
publishes the National Survey
on Drug Use and Health
which contains detailed statis-
tics on drug use in this coun-
try.
Here are the figures from
that report on the number of
Americans aged 12 and older
who were current (during the
past month) users of illicit
drugs:
*1996: 13 million, con-
stituting 6.4 percent of the
population.
*’97: 13.9 million, 6.4%
*’98: 13.8 million, 6.3%
*’99: 13 million, 6.4%
*2000: 14 million, 6.3
*’01: 15 million, 7.1%
*’02: 19.5 million, 8.3%
*’03: 19 million, 8.2%
*’04: 19.1 million, 7.9%
*’05: 19.7 million, 8.1%
*’06: 20.4 million, 8.3%
To state the obvious,
during the past 11 years, 7.4
million more people became
consumers of illicit drugs.
Many have fallen to the crack
cocaine or methamphetamine
epidemics that rage in differ-
ent parts of the country.
Others have found no
effective way to beat their
heroin habits. Young people
have decided to experiment
with club drugs such as Ec-
stasy while partying. Or
maybe they snort some Oxy-
Contin they got from a friend
who stole it from his mom.
Across the country, the
most affected group com-
prises 18- to 25-year-olds.
Among these young adults,
one out of five has used an
illicit drug during the past
month, based on a survey
from 2005.
Overall, during the past
year, one in 10 Americans
used marijuana -- and more
than one in four young adults
did the same. Nationally,
more than seven million peo-
ple used cocaine, most of
them young adults.
More than 14 million
people abused a prescription
drug, with teen-agers and
young adults experiencing
much higher rates of use than
other age groups.
“As long as there is a
demand for illicit drugs, you
can be sure that someone will
be willing to supply them,”
said Ryan Thorpe, director of
admissions at Narconon Ar-
rowhead, one of the country's
leading drug education and
rehabilitation centers, located
in Canadian, Okla. “This war
will be won,” he said, “by
educating youth on exactly
why they should refrain from
drug use and effectively reha-
bilitating those who have
become addicted.”
For more information on
the rehabilitation and educa-
tional services of Narconon
Arrowhead, phone (800) 468-
6933
or
visit
www.stopaddiction.com.
clined from 111 during ‘04 to
103 in ‘05. Twelve more
women died by homicide in
‘05 than in ‘04.
*Robbery/burglary ac-
counted for 8 percent of
homicides.
*Of the 555 suicides, 440
(79 percent) were males, and
115 (21 percent) were female.
Nearly all, 534 or 96 percent,
lent deaths occurred in four
counties: Multnomah, Lane,
Washington and Clackamas.
*Some 700 of the violent
death victims were white, 47
Hispanic and 21 African
American. The remainder
were American Indian/Native
Alaskan, Asian/pacific Is-
lander or “other race/
unspecified.”
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