Big Island cutting helicopter marijuana raids
By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
HILO, Hawai'i — In the mid-1980s, East Hawai'i was regarded as the marijuana capital of the nation after police destroyed more than 1 million plants in an unceasing series of helicopter raids.
Retired vice squad commander Richard "Dickie" Carter remembers when the haul was 200,000 plants in a single day.
"We were hot," Carter said yesterday, recalling Operation Green Harvest aimed at bringing down the illegal industry, which was propping up Puna's economy. The crackdown resulted in a decline in retail sales and school enrollment in the area.
Today, with new restrictions on helicopter raids imposed by the Hawai'i County Council, Big Island police are netting only a fraction of past marijuana harvests. In the first five months of the year, only 10,445 plants were destroyed.
Last year, 106,639 plants were seized by police.
Carter, who retired in 1999, said the situation today "is a farce. They (the council members) are just looking for trouble."
Facing impeachment threats by marijuana legalization advocates, the council late last year rejected federal drug enforcement grants to pay for police overtime and helicopter support.
In February, the council decided to accept the grants on the condition that police follow stricter rules that included keeping helicopters at least 1,000 feet away from homes in rural subdivisions and the recognition of licensed users of medical marijuana.
Police have scheduled two related hearings Aug. 3 on new administrative rules governing conduct during marijuana raids and in dealing with medical marijuana users. The rules eventually are to be published with the county clerk.
All of this is required to make subsequent federal grants possible.
Lt. Henry Tavares, East Hawai'i vice commander for the past five years, said the new rules mean less efficient use of federal grant money to search for marijuana and destroy the illegal plants. The result of the buffer zone around homes in rural subdivisions, he said, is that these areas are now largely ignored.
Even though the frequency of helicopter flights has declined, the number of complaints by Puna residents about the choppers has remained level, Tavares said.
Many of the Puna subdivisions, such as Fern Forest and Hawaiian Acres, have large signs urging those concerned about the helicopter searches to call in complaints.
Last week, Hank Roberts of Puna and Roger Christie of Hilo urged the council to ban all helicopter raids because they violate citizens' rights.
The Aug. 3 hearing that begins at 9 a.m. in the Hawai'i County Council Room in Hilo also will take up rules for protecting medical marijuana users.
Hawai'i is one of eight states that allows marijuana to be used for medical purposes. State officials said 78 patients on the Big Island had been issued permits compared with 54 on Kaua'i, 49 on O'ahu and 16 on Maui.
A U.S. Supreme Court decision in May appeared to have invalidated the state law passed last year, but Gov. Ben Cayetano has said the ruling would not affect legal use of the substance in Hawai'i for those holding medical prescriptions.
The High Court had ruled that marijuana does not have proven medical benefits and affirmed that manufacturing and distributing marijuana is illegal throughout the United States.
The Big Island draft rules for police are available from the Police Department or the office of Councilman Gary Safarik of Puna.
