Drug program money OK'd

By Susan Roth
Advertiser Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — A Senate subcommittee yesterday approved a bill that would spend $71 million in fiscal 2003 on Hawai'i and Pacific programs run by the departments of Commerce, Justice and State.

The measure includes over $6 million to prevent and fight crime in Hawai'i, including $4 million for a new initiative aimed at combating the use and manufacture of methamphetamine on the Big Island. The spending bill also contains nearly $40 million for ocean protection programs.

While the bill has yet to be passed by the full Senate Appropriations Committee and the Senate, the measure approved yesterday is likely to set the mark for Hawai'i programs until it is reconciled with the House's version of the spending bill for the Commerce, Justice and State departments.

Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawai'i, a top member of the committee who secured the money for Hawai'i programs, was especially pleased to get approval for the new drug program, the Hawai'i County Comprehensive Methamphetamine Response Program. Meth-related arrests increased five times from 1998 to 2000.

"This will send a strong message that meth manufacturing and use will not be tolerated in our island community," Inouye said in a statement. He said the program is being developed in consultation with county, state and federal officials in law enforcement and drug treatment, as well as community leaders.

"By drawing from a diverse group, the meth program should be ideally postured to enhance detection and law enforcement activities, provide technological resources to clean up meth labs, work to rehabilitate meth addicts, reunify families and strengthen prevention and educational activities in the communities," Inouye said. The senator is working to convene a "Meth Summit" on the Big Island to develop a response strategy outlining specific uses for the money.

The bill also includes:

• $17 million for the East-West Center at the University of Hawai'i, for ongoing programs and building renovation.
• $15 million to build a new National Marine Fisheries Service laboratory in Honolulu, to replace a badly deteriorated building.
• $6.3 million for research on endangered sea turtles.
• $4 million to pay for federally trained observers to help the Hawai'i fishing industry fulfill a federal court order regarding environmental compliance at the longline fishery.
• $3 million in new money to buy coastal lands for conservation.
• $1.9 million for a new program to upgrade the state's Automated Fingerprint Identification System, allowing the state to integrate with a national criminal history system and link with a national database.
• $800,000 in new money to help the Hawai'i fishing and seafood industries comply with new Food and Drug Administration regulations on safety inspections and handling, storage and shipment of seafood.