Ice remedy hearing draws few
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Staff Writer
After a week of unprecedented focus on Hawai'i's crystal methamphetamine crisis, the joint legislative House-Senate Task Force on Ice and Drug Abatement invited citizens to "take center stage" yesterday to offer ways to tackle the problem.
But while throngs of concerned folks attended previous forums designed to highlight the tragic personal and social effects of ice, fewer than a dozen showed up at the 300-seat Capitol auditorium to offer solutions.
"I'm floored," said Kat Brady, coordinator of the Community Alliance on Prisons, who presented a 14-point plan to the eight legislators in attendance.
"I think the communities are iced out."
Former state Sen. Bob Nakata also wondered if the ice issue had been overexposed. "I really thought there would be more people here today," he said.
The ice awareness campaign reached a peak Wednesday night when 11 Honolulu television stations presented a simultaneous broadcast of the documentary "Ice: Hawai'i's Crystal Meth Epidemic," by filmmaker Edgy Lee.
James Hall, featured in the documentary as a parent who struggled for years to help his daughter kick the ice habit, was among the handful who did show up. Among other things, Hall touched on one of the thorniest issues.
"At the recent summit on ice, much of the talk was about 'How can we afford it?' 'Where will we get the money?'" said Hall.
"Let me make one quick point about that: How can we afford not to do it?"
Citing state-provided figures from a study two years ago by the National Center of Addiction and Substance Abuse, Hall said Hawai'i's drug abuse tab comes to about $440 million a year spent on courts, corrections, education, public safety, child and family assistance, healthcare and treatment.
That translates to $368.13 per person spent on substance abuse in Hawai'i, Brady told the committee. But less than 2 percent of that goes to prevention, treatment and research.
"When this is juxtaposed against the cost of mandatory (prison) minimums for ice, it is easy to see why there is no money for prevention and treatment," she said.
By conservative estimate, the state spends more than $56 million to house 637 inmates for an average of 39 months, she said. Fewer than 1 percent of them receive substance abuse treatment, but 95 percent return to the community.
Recommendations raised at the meeting included allocation of available money to cover prevention and treatment, and a bill mandating parity so insurance providers would have to consider substance abuse like any other treatable chronic disorder.
Yesterday's hearing came on the heels of Friday's release of preliminary results of a recent Windward Community ice survey conducted by Sen. Melodie Aduja, D-23rd (Kane'ohe, Kahuku). Of the 820 Windward residents responding, 10 percent had used ice, while 40 percent said they knew an ice user. Aduja, a co-chair of the task force, coordinated the survey done with Chaminade University and the help of other Windward legislators.
A vast majority, 80 percent, strongly believe education and prevention are the best way to lower ice use in the community, while treatment and rehabilitation are the second-most-favored approach, at 56 percent. Law enforcement is third, at 47 percent. Prisons fare the worst, with only 14 percent of respondents favoring them as a solution.
The joint task force is in its final phase of ice hearings, and will be making a series of recommendations before the 2004 legislative session. House and Senate leaders have given the issue a top priority for next year.
