Posted on: Sunday, October 10, 2004
War on ice intensifies
By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Staff Writer
A year after Hawai'i residents raised a chorus to demand a war on ice, there are more ice-related arrests being made and more drug houses rooted out than ever before.
The number of programs, people and resources dedicated to prevention and drug education are also at an all-time high.
While it's unclear if fewer people are addicted to crystal methamphetamine, those on the front lines say momentum is building on a foundation of unprecedented public support.
"Truthfully, we've never seen Hawai'i mobilized around a single issue so broadly," said Judith Clark, executive director of the Hawaii Youth Services Network.
A year ago, Hawai'i's addiction to ice — the worst in the nation, according to federal statistics — sparked endless discussion and debate in communities, in the media, and among residents and officials.
There were town-hall meetings, a couple of high-profile "ice summits," a series of legislative task force hearings, the Edgy Lee documentary that saturated Hawai'i's TV airwaves and a plethora of sign-waving demonstrations across the state.
With a clear mandate, the state Legislature allocated an unprecedented $14.7 million to the ice problem, the Linda Lingle administration launched a campaign to develop a statewide drug-control strategy, and social-service providers began to beef up education and prevention programs.
"I've been in the business for nearly 40 years and this is the first time Hawai'i has decided to do something about addiction," said Andy Anderson of Hina Mauka, a treatment program with facilities across the state.
Meanwhile, the coordinated drug-enforcement effort of law agencies throughout the state exceeded its goals in 2003.
Almost every drug-enforcement category has already surpassed last year's numbers, said Larry Burnett, director of the Hawaii High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, a partnership of federal, state and county law-enforcement agencies.
For example, Operation Meltdown on the Big Island has resulted in dozens of arrests and drug sweeps over the past year, collecting more than 50 pounds of ice.
Last week on Maui, police and federal agents arrested 13 people, and seized $250,000 and 2 pounds of ice in a raid on 11 Maui homes, capping a 21-month investigation into a drug ring that distributed ice from Mexico on Maui and Lana'i.
The state attorney general's Nuisance Abatement Unit, using civil injunctions, has closed down at least six drug houses since it was formed last year.
Keith Kamita, administrator of the state Narcotics Enforcement Division, said the war on ice is being accelerated with the help of community members who are taking the time to make reports to the police.
Burnett agreed.
"The information we're getting from the public now is more accurate then ever. It's a tremendous resource for law enforcement," he said.
Burnett said the public is "primed and ready to help" and demanding that officials get on top of the ice problem.
"I've never been stationed in a place like Hawai'i, where there is so much community involvement. I pray every day that this involvement doesn't go away, that there's just as much a year from now as right now."
Growing community awareness over the past year inspired a new level of involvement as citizens teamed up to wave signs on the side of the road, volunteered in treatment and drug education programs, and enlisted in neighborhood watches.
"Dealers have a sense they are being watched more closely," said former state Sen. Bob Nakata, pastor of Kahalu'u United Methodist Church.
And scores of state and county candidates are now campaigning with the promise of continuing the ice fight.
"The community is speaking out," Anderson said. "It's long overdue."
It wasn't long ago that ice addiction was too shameful to be discussed in public, a family secret. The problem was left for government and social-service agencies to solve.
It's not that way anymore, said Allen Salavea, former head of the Youth Builders Program in the Hawai'i County prosecutor's office. Today, he said, people realize they are not alone. They are coming forward to get help for themselves, their family members and neighbors.
"It's terrific, the support we're getting," said Salavea, now program manager of the Hawai'i Island Mentoring Project, a new Hawai'i Community College program that is intended to show youngsters there are alternatives to drug use.
Salavea, Anderson and others who work in the trenches of the ice war say that while the problem is far from being licked, they are more optimistic.
As for now, it's almost impossible to say whether ice addiction has lessened in Hawai'i over the past year. However, there are hopeful indicators.
People who work with youth point to the latest state student drug survey — the 2002 Hawai'i Student Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Use Study — which shows a leveling off or slight decrease in the number of youngsters using strong drugs.
What's more, the number of property crimes in Hawai'i — a category often linked with ice addiction — declined slightly last year, officials said.
On the other hand, there are disturbing signs. For example, Dr. Kanthi De Alwis, Honolulu's chief medical examiner, estimates that ice will kill 80 people by the end of the year, surpassing the 2002 level of 62 deaths.
Alan Shinn, executive director of the Hawai'i Drug Coalition, said he's convinced the problem is growing worse.
"From what we see in the hospitals, crime arrests, Miss Hawai'i (USA, Tiffini Hercules) getting busted. ... This is not good. It's affecting so many people at so many levels," he said.
Shinn and others have criticized Lingle for withholding the drug money authorized by the state Legislature from when it became available in July until just a couple of weeks ago. Some treatment programs across the state were in danger of closing, they said, while hundreds of ice addicts seeking residential treatment were turned away because there wasn't enough money for new beds.
In addition, the critics said the administration slowed the momentum generated a year ago by delaying the development of a statewide drug-control strategy. The drug summit was in September 2003, but the working sessions to create the strategy recommended by the summit weren't launched until May.
Tamah-Lani Noh, Lingle's drug czar, said the delay was due, in part, to an initial lack of a "solid focus," and the need to work with the 2004 Legislature, which met in January. The effort took longer than expected, she said, but added: "It's important to know that there's no quick fix."
In any case, the strategy — a three-pronged approach of education, prevention and law enforcement — is expected to be announced by the end of this month, Noh said.
Those involved in the strategy sessions and committee meetings say the plan holds lots of promise, offering a blueprint for greater coordination and more efficient use of money and resources.
Reach Timothy Hurley at thurley@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 244-4880.
