Meth will continue to be the big player in Oregon’s illicit drug economy, followed by heroin and marijuana, according to an annual report published this month by the Oregon High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program.

The program, established by the Office of National Drug Policy in 1999, encompasses 10 Oregon counties, including Deschutes, as well as the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. The annual report assesses quantitative measures of drug-related activity and responses to surveys of local law enforcement officers.

While the amount of methamphetamine manufactured in Oregon has dropped, the amount passing through the state — and through Central Oregon in particular — is considerable.

HIDTA considers U.S. Highway 97 one of the state’s more significant trafficking routes. Between 2008 and 2014, authorities made 304 seizures on the route, recovering 1,600 pounds of marijuana, 158 pounds of meth and more than $1 million in cash, according to HIDTA.

Those seizure totals are second only to Oregon’s section of Interstate 5.

In October, an Oregon State Police trooper seized about 20 pounds of methamphetamine concealed in a rental car traveling on Highway 97. The drug was suspended in liquid, an increasingly popular method of transport, according to HIDTA.

Oregon State Police did not respond to a request for the incident report Monday.

U.S. Highway 20, which passes through Deschutes County, and U.S. Highway 26, through Warm Springs, are considered lower-patrolled alternatives to Interstate 84, which stretches across the Columbia River Gorge.

The report claims statewide restrictions on access to pseudoephedrine, a decongestant that can be used to manufacture methamphetamine, has decreased the number of meth labs in the state by 95 percent since 2005.

No meth labs were seized in either Deschutes County or Warm Springs in 2014.

Prescription drug abuse also made the list of impending threats. Efforts to limit prescription painkiller distribution are being discussed on the county and regional levels, with law enforcement and public health officials weighing in.

Both the Central Oregon Health Council and Deschutes County’s Local Public Safety Coordinating Committee have supported a regional summit to address increasing abuse of prescription drugs, which can lead to heroin use.

The report suggests changing marijuana policies in the United States have inadvertently increased opium production in Mexico. With recreational marijuana set to become legal in Oregon on July 1, more of the marijuana consumed here originates domestically, according to the report.

In an interview in April, Oregon HIDTA’s director, Chris Gibson, said large-scale grows and trafficking organizations will continue to be priorities for local law enforcement once limited amounts of recreational marijuana are considered legal under Oregon law.

“Our biggest threat continues to be in heroin, meth and prescription drugs, things that are going to remain illegal (in Oregon),” Gibson said. He continued, “We’ll still be actively involved in making sure public lands won’t be corrupted by private grows.”

HIDTA’s report also surmises that equipping Portland Police Bureau officers with Naloxone, an anti-opioid prescription used to counteract heroin overdoses, reversed two heroin overdoses in early 2015. Three people died of heroin overdoses in Deschutes County last year.

Bend Police Chief Jim Porter said in an interview earlier this month he considered having officers carry Naloxone but decided against it, saying he was uncomfortable with giving them diagnostic responsibilities.

HIDTA supports the Central Oregon Drug Enforcement team, a multiagency outfit that targets illegal drug activity.

Deschutes County sheriff’s Capt. Shane Nelson, who oversees the county jail and will become sheriff July 1, sits on HIDTA’s executive board, according to the report. He declined to comment on the report Monday.

— Reporter: 541-383-0376, cwithycombe@bendbulletin.com