Drug summit begins with call to battle ice
By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Hawai'i must rally now or risk losing the war on ice and other drugs, U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo said yesterday as officials convened the state's largest anti-drug summit.
Advertiser library photo
"This is the time when our neighbors, our families, our communities are up, and there's an outcry," Kubo told the assembly at the Hawai'i Drug Control Strategy Summit in Waikiki. "And if we don't seize on the momentum now, we're going to lose our generations in the future."
"If we don't seize on the momentum now, we're going to lose our generations in the future," U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo said.
For the first time here, hundreds of stakeholders and policy-makers — doctors and politicians, police and pastors — are under the same roof to talk about how they can work together to fight drug abuse.
By the time the three-day conference ends tomorrow, they want to leave with a specific plan of action to get users off drugs — and to keep others from starting.
"The message that should go out to the people of Hawai'i today with this summit is that we ... are taking a stand and we will be successful against drug and alcohol abuse in this state," Gov. Linda Lingle said.
Kubo said all three interest groups — drug prevention, drug treatment and law enforcement — "must combine forces."
 |
|
| Sunday
While the state increasingly focuses on the thefts, burglaries and violent crime associated with methamphetamine addiction, experts say the harm to children of addicts is often overlooked. |
|
| • | Drug's youngest victims see families torn apart |
| • | Trauma of ice both physical, emotional |
| • | Crystal meth Q&A |
| • | Chart: The crystal methamphetamine crisis |
| • | Chart: Indicators of a worsening ice problem in Hawai'i |
| • | Chart: How methamphetamine works in the body |
|
|
|
|
Yesterday When state Child Protective Services removes children from a home because of drug use, it becomes a powerful tool to pressure the parents into treatment. |
|
| • | |
| • | Tragedy leads to change |
|
• |
|
|
|
|
|
Today Doctors desperately need information about babies born each year with ice in their systems, but some drug-addicted mothers fear taking part in such research could cost them their children. |
|
| • | Meth-exposed babies studied |
| • | Prosecutor wants pre-birth intervention |
"By fighting among ourselves, I believe we lose sight of our goals," he said.
The summit, being held at the Sheraton Waikiki, is drawing about 400 people from backgrounds spanning law enforcement and healthcare to the military and the Girl Scouts. Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona is spearheading the summit.
The Hawai'i Drug Control Strategy has a goal of reducing adult and juvenile illegal drug use by 10 percent over three years, plus a 10 percent reduction in adult-offender recidivism
The summit is among the initiatives that politicians have launched to address the state's drug problem, particularly crystal methamphetamine. House and Senate lawmakers also held a series of hearings with government officials, nonprofit providers and others to discuss how best to deal with the problem.
Emerging themes from Aiona's recent series of statewide talk-story sessions included the need for quicker response by law enforcement, random student drug testing, youth prevention programs, treatment services and more equitable distribution of resources, particularly for the Neighbor Islands.
More than 700 survey responses from those who attended the meetings found that most view more organized youth activities as the top need in their communities to reduce drug use and under-age drinking.
A survey of 224 summit participants ranked prevention and community mobilization as the top priorities to reduce illicit drug use in the community. That was followed by treatment and law enforcement.
Scott Burns, deputy director for state and local affairs at the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said the problem cannot be tackled without a balanced approach that includes long-term treatment and law enforcement.
He said 30 days of treatment is not enough, as he knows of addicts who took three to four months "to clear the fog."
 |
| "We will be successful against drug and alcohol abuse in this state," Gov. Linda Lingle said.
Advertiser library photo |
Burns also said police need more tools, such as the ability to conduct "knock and talks," in which officers search suspicious homes with the resident's consent. Law enforcement officials said the state constitution should be amended to allow for such programs, which the Hawai'i Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in 1992.
Larry Burnett, director of the Hawai'i High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, said crystal methamphetamine poses the most significant drug threat to the state, and that it is quickly heading toward becoming the No. 1 drug problem in the nation.
A study by marketing research firm Roper ASW concluded teens who see or hear anti-drug ads at least once a day are 38 percent less likely to try crystal methamphetamine, 29 percent less likely to use Ecstasy, and 14 percent less likely to smoke marijuana.
Jody Shiroma-Perreira, editor of the local teen publication Sassy Magazine, said media messages discouraging drug use should send a "cool message" that doesn't preach. She also said teens should be educated on the physical and mental damage done by drugs.
"Keep them busy, keep them proud to be drug-free," she said.
Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.
