'Ice' use rising among Honolulu arrestees
| • | New law expected to aid war on 'ice' |
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
A new study shows that crystal methamphetamine use among men arrested in Honolulu is the highest in the country and rising.
• 44.8 percent of males arrested in Honolulu tested positive for crystal meth, or "ice," in the first nine months of 2002, compared with 38.1 percent in 2001. Honolulu led 36 sites that participated in the study. • The second- and third-ranked cities were far behind Honolulu: Sacramento, Calif., was 33.5 percent, and San Diego was 31.7 percent. • Overall drug use for men arrested in Honolulu — including crack and powder cocaine, marijuana and heroin —was 62.9 percent for the first nine months of 2002. • Drug use numbers for arrested women were too small to be sampled. — Source: Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program
For the first nine months of 2002 — the most recent information compiled — 44.8 percent of male arrestees tested positive for crystal meth, or "ice," compared with 38.1 percent in 2001.
Drug use among arrested men
The rate of ice use for Honolulu was about 25 percent higher than the second- and third-ranked California cities of Sacramento (33.5 percent) and San Diego (31.7 percent). Thirty-six sites participated in the study.
The study was conducted by the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program and was paid for by the National Institute of Justice.
In addition to crystal meth, the study looked at other drugs — crack and powder cocaine, marijuana and heroin — that tested positive in urinalysis tests.
Overall drug use for men arrested in Honolulu was 62.9 percent for the first nine months of 2002, compared with 58.8 percent for the same period in 2001.
City Prosecutor Peter Carlisle said the numbers were "alarming" but not surprising. Since Honolulu began taking part in the study in 2000, the city has led the nation in ice use, he said.
"The problem is clearly epidemic," Carlisle said.
He said the increase in ice use is related directly to the number of property crimes and murders in Honolulu. The city consistently has been among the nation's leaders in rate of thefts.
"It's a problem for everybody who lives in the state of Hawai'i," Carlisle said. "Anybody who is in denial about it, thinking it's not in their community, it's not in their school, should take a real good look at these numbers and readjust their thinking."
The results for all of 2002 are not in, but Andrew Ovenden, Honolulu coordinator for the program, said preliminary numbers show that crystal meth use is expected to be even higher.
"We had a bit of a spike in the fourth quarter, but that's based on raw, unweighted data that we've received," Ovenden said.
The study is based on interviews and urine tests of men arrested in Honolulu. Both are voluntary, Ovenden said, but about 80 percent of all men arrested agreed to participate.
About 150 men were interviewed each quarter, he said, and more than 2,000 have participated since 2000.
Ovenden said the only time the rate of ice use dropped in the past two years was around Sept. 11, 2001, and he said that may have been because crystal meth supplies were interrupted by restrictions on air and sea travel.
Although Honolulu is tops when it comes to crystal meth use, the rates of use for other illegal drugs were among the lowest in the nation.
Powder and rock cocaine showed up in 9.1 percent of men arrested in Honolulu last year, the lowest among the 36 sites. Atlanta led the study with a 49.4 percent rate. Honolulu had the third-lowest rate for marijuana use at 32.2 percent, and ninth-lowest for heroin and other opiate use at 3.5 percent.
The study did look at drug use among women who were arrested, but Ovenden said the numbers were so small that they were not a representative sample.
Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8025.
