Ice finds its way into prisons in a number of ways
| • | Ice epidemic grows, overwhelms prisons |
| • | Family, health, music career destroyed by meth addiction |
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Drug treatment stretched thin by other prison costs |
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
Many crystal meth addicts don't take their problem seriously until they land in prison. But doing time doesn't always mean quitting.
Drugs are a problem in every prison system. Hawai'i's is no exception. There's a huge demand for ice behind bars, and it's the most common illicit substance, according to inmates, officials, drug test results and other documents.
More than 370 inmates tested positive for drugs during the six months that ended in May, and ice was detected in 69 percent of those cases. Inmates say the drug is not necessarily widely available. But it's there for those who seek it out.
Ice has been smuggled into prisons by visitors, new inmates, and even correctional officers.
A guard who admitted possessing 2 ounces of ice destined for the Halawa Correctional Facility was sentenced last month to more than seven years in federal prison. He had smuggled the drug into Halawa before, according to prosecutors.
It wasn't the first ice case linked to a Hawai'i prison, and won't be the last.
A defense attorney arrested as part of the same investigation is awaiting trial on related charges. And during the mid-1990s, numerous guards and prison employees were prosecuted on drug charges, including a Halawa guard who admitted receiving 20 pounds of ice over two years and laundering drug profits through a concert promotion business.
And in 2001, a Hawai'i inmate serving time in a private Arizona prison died after swallowing several balloons filled with ice, according to an autopsy report by the Maricopa County medical examiner. A lawsuit claims gang members forced the prisoner to be a "mule," or drug courier.
Hawai'i officials sent to investigate conditions at the prison found at least one guard who admitted smuggling drugs in exchange for protection from a powerful inmate gang, according to a state inspection report.
The facility was later locked down, a new warden was assigned there, and some problem inmates were transferred out.
