Page A3
April 4. 2007
Overdose Deaths Examined
Meth ties with heroin
as biggest killer
(A P ) — H ero in an d m e th a m ­
p h e ta m in e w ere e a c h tie d to the
d e a th s o f 89 p e o p le in O re g o n last
y ear, m ak in g th em the sta te 's d e a d ­
liest illegal dru g s, a c c o rd in g to new
re p o rt by the sta te m e d ic a l e x a m ­
iner.
T he results represent a sharp d i­
version from num bers posted a d e ­
cade ago. Back in 1996, there w ere
157 h ero in-related deaths and only
33 m eth-related deaths.
T h e in c re a s e in m e th -re la te d
deaths probably indicates an increase
in the drug's prevalence, said state
m e d ic a l e x a m in e r D r. K a re n
G unson.
D eaths w ere reported as drug-
related if a m edical ex am in er d e te r­
m ined that m eth, heroin o r cocaine
caused or contributed to a person's
Labor union retiree Willie Marion stands outside his northeast Portland home. He was recently inducted into the
Northwest Oregon Labor Hall of Fame after 22 years of running a local union.
Labor Leader Makes History
Willie Marion
inducted into local
hall of fame
by S arah B lount
T he P ortland O bserver
It w as an unco m m o n h o n o r for
A frican A m ericans last m onth w hen
W illie M arion w as inducted into the
O regon L ab o r U nion H all o f Fam e.
M arion says he is the first black m an
o f O regon and southw est W ashington
to receive such an honor.
G ene K lare o f the N orthw est L a­
bor Press said union m em bers are
chosen becau se o f th eir service w ithin
local labor unions and the labor m o v e­
m ent in general. In M a rio n 's case, he
becam e a leader at a tim e w hen A fri­
can A m ericans w ere not p revalent in
head positions.
M arion w as born Feb. 22, 1936 in
T up elo . M iss., and thro u g h o u t high
school w orked on the railro ad and
part-tim e for both a d o c to r and his dad
w ho w as a plum ber. H e jo in e d the
arm y in 1956 and 10 years later m oved
to P ortland, w here he becam e e m ­
ployed at the O regon Steel F oundry, a
now d efunct organization located in
the n orthw est industrial district.
M arion worked at several other fou nd-
ries over the years and was eventually
elected to the executive board o f the
G lass, M olders, Pottery Plastics and
A llied W orkers International union,
becam e shop steward, served on the
negotiation com m ittee and acted as a
delegate to conventions.
As a long-ti me m em ber o f the G M P,
M arion said it w as a friend and fellow
union m em ber w ho in 1977 e n c o u r­
aged him to apply for the position o f
business rep resentative and financial
secretary treasurer at the predom i-
nantly -w hite labor union.
“ It took m e a year to decide, b e­
cau se there w e re n ’t any black-held
positio ns and at the tim e I d id n 't think
I’d d o w ell.” M arion said.
But he ended up staying in that
position for 22 and a h alf years, w here
he w as responsible fo r taking care o f
griev an ces, negotiating contracts and
death based on b lo o d levels.
C o caine co n tributed to 64 o f the
212 d ru g -related deaths in O regon.
D eaths involving m ore than one drug
w ere co unted in each category, so
the co m b in ed m eth, heroin and c o ­
caine totals exceed 212.
G u n so n said m eth-related deaths
tend to be caused by traum a, from
a ccid en ts and irrational b eh a v io r
re la te d to the d ru g 's effects, she
said.
"T hey end up d o ing things that
they norm al ly w ouldn't do," she said,
such as ju m p in g o ff a building.
H e ro in -re la te d d e a th s , m e a n ­
w hile, tend to be caused by o v e r­
d o ses.
G unson said the n um ber o f O r­
egon deaths related to ov erd o ses on
o v e r-th e -c o u n ter and p rescrip tio n
drugs, such as m ethadone, likely o u t­
num ber those deaths related to ille­
gal drugs.
Fire Safer Cigarettes Coming
attending countless co n ventions and
educational m eetings.
M arion said that throughout his ca­
reer he learned a lot about diversity in
the w orkplace, having w orked with
Latino, G erm an and fellow A frican
A m erican union members.
“I learned how different people react,
especially when you are dealing with
grievances,” he said.
But even among such diversity, Marion
said union mem bers never looked at h i m
as being black when he represented
them.
T hroughout his career running the
G M P office, M arion was also active in
the Metal T rade Council and N orthw est
L abor Council and was president o f
Region O ne International M older Union
Oregon lawm akers have approved a
hill which requires only fire-safe ciga­
rettes to be sold in Oregon.
"W e are very near the end o f a long
jo u rn e y ," said C h ie f D eputy State
Fire M arshal Randy Sim pson. "M em ­
bers o f the Senate and the H ouse o f
R epresentative have agreed the tim e
is now for O regon to have fire-safer
cigarettes. P assing this legislation is
vital to saving the lives and property
o f O regonians from cigarette-caused
fires."
Senators Floyd Prozanski. D-Eu-
gene and Avel Gordly. I-Portland, car­
ried the bill to the Senate after a ‘do
pass' recom m endation from the Sen­
ate Com m erce Com m ittee. The bill
now goes to Gov. Kulongoski where it
is expected to he signed.
A fter the bill becom es law, Oregon
will join California, Illinois, Kentucky,
M assachusetts. New Ham pshire, New
York. Utah, Verm ont and C anada in
requiring the sale o f only fire-safer
cigarettes.
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il!* P o rtk in b (flbscnwr
Council.
He retired from G M P Local 139 in
D ecem ber 2000, after serving the union
for nearly a quarter century. He and his
w ife C orrine have six children, sixteen
grandchildren and tw o great grandchil­
dren. The couple lives in Portland, where
he enjoys fishing and is a baseball um ­
pire and basketball referee.
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