and now they're a shell of what they once were. >> narrator: at the portland newspaper the "oregonian," reporters also began to focus on the impact of meth on the people of oregon. >> it's huge. it affects not merely the users but it's the leading cause of property crime. it's the leading reason why children are removed from their homes and sent into foster care. it's very hard to go to any part of oregon and not experience the effects of methamphetamine on ordinary people. >> narrator: in 2002, the "oregonian's" editors decided to go after the story behind the story-- how and why did the meth epidemic get so out of control? reporter steve suo was assigned to the investigation. >> we gathered about a million different types of records-- possession arrests, emergency room admissions, identity theft arrests. and all of them really pointed in the same direction. >> narrator: suo transformed his data into maps. the darker a state's color, the higher its percentage of addicts. the maps told a chilling story. in 1992, only oregon had enough addicts to be shaded black. by 1997, the number of

several oregonians are very involved in tech issues. you, senator, former senator smith is head of the national association of broadcasters, greg wall den on the house side is a republican from oregon. >> guest: we're freedom folks. we like the first amendment, we like to be able to communicate, we like to debate, and we're pretty egalitarian. we like everybody to be a shot, not just the moneyed interests, and that's what the internet represents. of course, congressman walden had a small radio station for quite some time, senator smith's representing the broadcast. i can tell you what happened in my case is when i became oregon's first united states senator, i said, look, i'm going to do everything i can for our traditional kind of industries. but i said in addition to that i'm going to try to find some new opportunities for us to really lead and innovate. and it always kept coming back to technology. for example, i'm now the chairman of senate finance committee on international trade. i think the internet is the shipping lane of the 21

you ask a mainer who he likes and it's different to a north dakotan or a floridian or an oregonian. different countries. it was a fascinating experience. >> even though -- it aired on the bbc. so a lot of americans didn't see it. >> i know. strange that. >> so fame levelwise, you're this enormous star in the uk, a lot of people wonder when you might take over america. >> i don't know about that. i've left that to my partner, hugh laurie. photographs in the background. >> talk about that friendship, too. >> i was very lucky. after an extremely childhood which involved expulsion from a number of schools and imprisonment i managed to get a scholarship to cambridge university. i would quietly grow tweed in the corner and write books on shakespeare which is my great passion. and i was introduced in my second week to this girl who i had seen on stage. she was a first year like me but she had opinion in a play already. it was travesties. i looked at her name in the program and said who is this e. thompson. somebody said emma thompson. we became good friends. you said you should try out. na

several oregonians are very involved in tax -- tech issues, you, former senator smith head of the national association broadcasters, greg walden on the house site is a republican from oregon. >> guest: we are freedom folks. we like the first amendment, we like to be able to communicate. be like today. we are pretty egalitarian. we like everyone to have a shot, not just the money interest. of course senator walden has a small radio station for quite some time with the family. senator smith is a broadcaster. i can tell you what happened in my case is when i became make united states senator in 1996, i said i'm going to do everything i can forward our traditional kind of industry but i said in addition to that, going to try to find some new opportunities for us to really lead and innovate and always kept coming back to technology. for example and now the chairman of the senate finance committee on international trade. i think the internet is the shipping lanes of the 21st century so lineberry can -- interested and anxious for example to promote the export of our digital goods. we have produce