ISLAND VOICES
It's time to act on ice now

Darryl D. Perry is a retired major of the Honolulu Police Department.

Calling the Hawai'i Drug Control Strategy Summit a success would be an understatement. The state of Hawai'i, to my recollection, has never had a more comprehensive examination of our current drug problem. Kudos to everyone who participated and contributed to proposed recommendations.

The ice epidemic has continued to fester over the years despite the outstanding efforts of law enforcement, the judiciary, corrections and the myriad of treatment and prevention programs. But there have been many successes. Excellent examples of successful educational programs are the Drug Abuse Resistance Education and Gang Resistance, Education and Training currently being taught in our public and private schools by police officers throughout the state and their military counterparts.

Additionally our judiciary has implemented the Drug Court program, which allows an individual the opportunity to be rehabilitated and once again become a productive member of society. Moreover, effective treatment programs are also present in our corrections system.

This begs the question: If we are arresting, prosecuting, incarcerating, treating and rehabilitating drug offenders, why are we still confronted with this problem year after year, decade after decade?

The 11 proposed recommendations by participants of the drug summit allow the state to take a huge step forward to stop the loss of an entire generation, as U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo so eloquently stated. Hawai'i can and must be the "best practices" model for the rest of the nation. We, as a caring community, can no longer look the other way and expect the criminal justice system to be totally responsible for what really is a law enforcement, health and community problem.

President Bush strongly believes in treatment and recovery of addicts and had proclaimed September National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. Bush emphasized, "Addiction to alcohol or drugs destroys family ties, friendship, ambition and moral conviction, and reduces the richness of life to a single destructive desire."

With that sweeping statement, Bush proposed a new initiative called Access to Recovery with a budget of $600 million over the next three years. The state should follow Bush's lead in allocating more resources for treatment, education and prevention, with a strong emphasis on after-care programs.

This state will continue to face fiscal restraints in many areas; however, if the drug summit is not to fall into the flavor-of-the-month category, we absolutely must move forward with these recommendations. There should be no hesitation, what-ifs or buts. Our children and their children deserve nothing less from us. We have procrastinated long enough; the time for action is now.

Throughout my years of service in law enforcement, I truly felt the key to stopping the cycle of drug abuse is treatment and, more importantly, after-care programs that prevent relapse and minimize the opportunity to re-offend. Individuals who are treated must not return to the environment that encourages drug use; they also need to be employed to rebuild a sense of pride, connection and ownership with the communities that support them.

Every community has different and unique needs. The leaders of these communities must continue to step up to the plate and convince policymakers, and those who control the purse strings, to support and implement effective anti-drug and treatment programs. Collaboration among public and private sectors and federal, state and local entities is the key to community empowerment.