 Sunday, May 7, 2006
'Ice' collection down; cocaine making a comeback
by Tiffany Edwards
West Hawaii Today
tedwards@westhawaiitoday.com
Sunday, May 7, 2006 10:23 AM HST
HILO -- Crack is back.
Hawaii County police say -- and their statistics reflect -- an ever-increasing amount of cocaine is being confiscated islandwide.
Both the island's Ice Task Force teams collected less crystal methamphetamine, or "ice," in 2005 than 2004, but they also collected more cocaine in 2005 than in 2004.
The Hilo Ice Task Force collected 11,928 grams -- a little over 26 pounds -- of ice and 110.7 grams of cocaine when executing 83 search warrants in 2004. Compare that to the 6,551.7 grams of ice and 5,592.7 grams of powdered cocaine confiscated during 90 search warrants in 2005.
The Kona Ice Task Force in 2004, meanwhile, collected 10,626.9 grams of ice and 35.4 grams of cocaine when executing 108 search warrants. Compare that to the 5,365.4 grams of ice and 120.5 grams of cocaine confiscated in 98 search warrants in 2005.
"The stats are showing the Ice Task Forces' increased effectiveness," Hilo Vice Det. Miles Chong said of the two teams comprised of five officers on each side of the island that were first formed in 2003.
"We would like to think we did a good enforcement job on the ice problem and that has severely restricted its supply, which drove the costs up and led to users finding a cheaper alternative" that will give them a similar high, Chong said Friday.
"We don't know if there is less ice out there. Our sources on the street are saying it's becoming harder to come by, becoming more expensive," Chong said Friday.
A quarter of a gram of methamphetamine costs $100 on the street right now, while three quarters of a gram of crack cocaine, or "rock," costs $70, according to Chong. A paper clip or dime weighs about a gram.
While the numbers indicate there is a reduced supply of methamphetamine on the island, Det. Derrik Diego, with Kona Vice, doesn't think so.
"It's still coming in as usual," Diego said.
The ice is coming in strapped to people described as "couriers" or "mules" on direct commercial airline flights from the mainland or overseas or it is being shipped here in containers, in the mail or in express service parcels, according to Chong and Diego.
Diego, who has been with the Hawaii County Police Department 30 years and a Vice detective 18 of those years, maintains: "We have always had a cocaine problem."
Cocaine was prevalent in Hawaii in the 1980s and early 1990s before the rise in ice, according to Diego and Chong, who has been with the police department since 1994.
Crystal methamphetamine, having traditionally cost less than cocaine, has been commonly referred to as "poor man's cocaine," according to the National Drug Intelligence Center Web site at http://www.justice.gov/ndic.
Diego just thinks cocaine is "coming back because the department is focusing on crystal methamphetamine."
"They're hoping the department is bypassing cocaine, but we enforce all drugs," he said.
Diego recalled there was a seizure of 816 pounds of cocaine in Puna last year when police executed a marijuana search warrant.
Also during the "Operation Capsize" -- a series of police raids between April 2004 and last summer seeking to break up three drug rings said to be responsible for half the island's ice supply -- police seized 44 grams of cocaine along with 24 pounds of ice.
Chong and Diego said crack cocaine, or "rock," is preferred on the island because it can be smoked and because it goes further. "You can double your yield when you convert powdered (cocaine) to crack," Chong said. "They call it 'cooking,'" he said of the conversion.
Chong thinks cocaine users prefer to smoke the drug because, like ice, it is faster for them to get high with it entering their bloodstream from their lungs.
As was the case with Operation Capsize, there are occasions when police are finding users with both ice and cocaine.
"Both are stimulants," Chong noted. "If they can't have one, they will choose the other."
Police are typically confiscating marijuana along with ice and cocaine because it is "a depressant," and Chong contends "it helps take the edge off" of the high experienced with the two stimulants.
In 2005, the Kona Ice Task Force collected 520.7 grams of marijuana and the Hilo Ice Task Force collected 3,877.2 grams. The year before, the Kona Ice Task Force collected 1,221 grams of marijuana and the Hilo Ice Task Force collected 665.7 grams.
While ice and cocaine appear to be similar, their difference lies in how long their high lasts. For cocaine, the high lasts between 20 and 30 minutes and, for ice, the high lasts between eight and 24 hours, according to Narconon International, a drug-rehabilitation program inspired by the Church of Scientology.
Also, ice is man-made -- being a synthesized form of methamphetamine hydrochloride -- and cocaine is derived from the refined leaves of the South American coca plant, Narconon International reports on its Web sites http://www.narconon.org and http://www.stopmethaddiction.com.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Alternative Approaches
by Betsy Tranquilli
West Hawaii Today
btranquilli@westhawaiitoday.com
Thursday, April 27, 2006 8:48 AM HST
Cultural-based treatment helps Native Hawaiians
Walking down the winding dirt path, you hear only three sounds: running stream water, birds overhead and the hum of lawn equipment.
A handful of men stained with sweat and grass are in the distance clearing weeds and trimming overgrown brush inside this bowl-shaped nature reserve dotted with taro patches. Three women in sun bonnets and gardening gloves tend to the earth in silence. A duck waddles back and forth mingling with the group.
This is usually the scene each Wednesday morning. They work in peace and quiet as they maintain and restore this two-acre plot of private land in Kohala. But in the process of tending to the land, they are also healing themselves.
The men are part of the Big Island Substance Abuse Council's (BISAC) therapeutic living program in North Kohala, which offers substance-free housing incorporated with social and recovery services. They come to Nani Svendsen's taro patch -- cultivated by Hawaiians before King Kamehameha's time -- to work, pray, meditate, reflect and reconnect with the aina. What they've managed to create is the Konea Okukui Garden -- the garden of light that has been restored to health.
The clients have also become an example of the growing trend in Hawaii and on the Big Island of creating a cultural-based approach to substance abuse treatment.
"The land really teaches you a lot. We are so connected to culture and land. You can't separate them," Svendsen said. "I like that this place can offer that to the men. It's about their healing, too."
The crystal methamphetamine plague in the state and on the Big Island has hit the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community particularly hard. Of the 5,812 people admitted for substance abuse treatment in Hawaii in 2004, 65 percent were Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, according to data released this week by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Of those islanders seeking treatment, 77 percent were for addiction to methamphetamine.
In West Hawaii, treatment centers like BISAC, Access Capabilities and Lohaki Treatment Centers say the vast majority of patients they treat now are Native Hawaiian men. In response, treatment centers have turned to cultural-specific healing practices -- like taro farming, chanting and meditation -- to accompany more traditional western recovery programs. The hope is to help restore a connection to the Hawaiian community in the addict and thereby create a more stable foundation for long-term recovery.
"It's new ground we're breaking," said Keith Yamamoto, head of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse division of the state Department of Health. The DOH funds Hui Hoola O Na Nahulu O Hawaii, a community and cultural based outpatient recovery project in Puna.
"These type of programs are not something state agencies typically look at," he said. "Usually, it's always more western methods. It's an innovative thing to base a program like this on culture."
With cultural-based recovery projects being so rare, the Puna center tried several different activities and methods after they opened in 1997 before settling on certain practices, like having local kapuna practicing native problem-solving techniques such as hooponopono with recovering addicts. The effort is not only assisting in individual recovery, but restoring the experience of ohana that drugs like ice tend to destroy, according to Lisa Cook, executive director of Drug Addictions Services of Hawaii, Inc. a nonprofit treatment organization that operates the Puna project.
"It's a sacred process. People need spirituality for long-term recovery," Cook said. "If you take something in the culture, like chants or dance, it puts everything into context for them. It's something their grandparents did, their parents did and their children will do. It connects Hawaiians to their past, their present, their future and each other."
Cook said she's found in her decades of working in the substance abuse treatment field that people of Hawaiian or Pacific Islander decent often struggle with western methods of recovery because the methods don't reflect who they are as a group or what they know as an individual.
"What happened years ago was, for the local folks, they had a hard time in treatment because it was a new language and they were being asked to do things that was not aligned with their culture," Cook said. "In some ways, I think it was damaging to them. They felt that in order to recover, you must become westernized. ... People have thought of combining western programs with cultural ones for recovery, but what we are realizing now is that the cultural part is not just a side dish. It is the main course."
"Kevin," a long-term recovering addict that works with BISAC and the Kohala therapeutic men's living program, said he can see the differences in the recovery process in the men that tend to Svendsen's taro patch compared with his own experience years ago in western-based treatment.
"In my opinion, I think this works a lot better. You can see a lot of changes in the men that come through the house and work at the taro patch," said Kevin, who asked that his name be changed to protect the anonymous philosophy of recovery. "It's about reconnecting and being part of the land. It's about being part of Hawaii and part of aloha. That's what it's all about."
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
State leads nation in 'ice' abuse
by Betsy Tranquilli
West Hawaii Today
btranquilli@westhawaiitoday.com
Wednesday, April 26, 2006 8:48 AM HST
West Hawaii has higher number than state average
Hawaii leads the nation in the percentage of people in substance abuse treatment for methamphetamine addictions, according to new federal statistics. Treatment centers in West Hawaii, however, are handling even higher numbers of meth addicts than the state average.
Nationally, 8 percent of admissions to treatment in 2004 were due to methamphetamine as the primary substance of abuse, a 57 percent increase from 2001, according to data released this week by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Hawaii has the highest percent of admission for meth with 41 percent, while meth addicts in California, Nevada, Idaho, Oklahoma and Arkansas account for 20 percent of people in treatment programs.
But several substance abuse treatment centers in West Hawaii report that any where from 50 to 95 percent of their patients are addicted to crystal methamphetamine, or ice, forcing the centers to expand and retool programs to meet what's becoming an overwhelming demand.
At the Big Island Substance Abuse Council's (BISAC) Kona treatment center, 50 percent of patients are being treated for meth use, according to Marilyn McIntosh, the West Hawaii Director of Behavioral Health Services. That number jumps to more than 90 percent in BISAC's Waimea office.
"It's been that way for years," Waimea's primary counselor Verna Chartrand said. "Almost all my clients are here for ice."
For BISAC, the constant increase in meth addicts seeking treatment hasn't altered how they provide help, but it has changed how they approach public awareness and educational campaigns, McIntosh said.
"We look at addiction as an overall picture, whether it's alcohol, meth or cocaine. There are the same addictive characteristics in all of them," McIntosh said. "But we are now doing a lot more education on meth and the harm it causes. It has a ripple effect on the community and it drives a strong force with criminal behavior."
Lokahi Treatment Centers, which provides a mix of mental health and substance abuse outpatient programs, reports that 60 percent of their patients in West Hawaii are being treated for meth addictions. The center has had to order special research-based programs to deal with the influx of meth patients, as well as increase staffing and the length of treatment to 12 full months to adequately deal with the cognitive effects the drug has on the users, according to CEO and executive director Dr. Jamal Wasan.
"We've had to increase our staff, and not just in numbers, but we need the right quality of staff to deal with this kind of treatment," Wasan said. "Meth is a neurotoxin. It gets into the tissue, whereas crack-cocaine doesn't cause that damage. It takes four months (for meth) to deplete itself from the brain. We have to keep them in intensive cognitive treatment for longer periods of time."
Because of the intense neurological damage methamphetamine causes, the length of time a person spends in treatment can often dramatically affect the success rates meth users have in recovery, counselors said. Don Lupiem, founder and director of Access Capabilities, a Kona-based substance abuse and behavior health counseling center, said about 70 to 75 percent of their patients are meth addicts, while at least 90 percent of referrals they receive from drug court are meth abusers. Lupiem said that drug court referrals that undergo intense supervision and treatment for a full year are often more successful than other addicts that are only covered for treatment for eight months.
"I believe (drug court referrals) do better simply because of the amount of supervision they get for a full year," Lupiem said. "Because of the changes in brain chemistry, it takes a longer time to help people think differently."
But treatment centers struggle to provide longer treatment since most healthcare providers do not cover after-care treatment once a patient completes either an inpatient or outpatient program.
"Managed care will pay out for a certain amount of treatment, but they do not pay for after care and that is a critical point," Lokahi public relations director Valerie Poindexter said. "Some of our clients are not able to come back because they can't afford it. And then we see a lot of relapses."
While there are many reasons why people use substances, many in the substance abuse field believe the problem with meth in Hawaii, particularly in West Hawaii, has strong ties to economic factors.
"I'm not sure why, but when ice hit Hawaii, it took off like a rocket," Lupiem said. "I believe in West Hawaii, it might have something to do with the division in classes. You have the really well off and the really poor with not much in between here. It used to be that everyone knew everyone here and everyone was on the same level."
Poindexter agreed that changes in industry and lifestyle on the Big Island correlate with the emergence of the meth epidemic. With the end of the sugar cane industry, more migrant workers were unprepared to enter the public sector, which can lead to anger, depression and ultimately drug use. Plus, with more people flocking to the hotel industry, meth has become a way to manage driving longer distances and working longer hours, she said.
"In my opinion, it all starts with economics," Poindexter said. "A lot of people don't know what to do to make it here. They have no sense of meaning or purpose in life. We're just putting Band-Aids on the problem by just sending these people to treatment. There are so many other areas that need to be addressed when talking about meth here."
Coming up
- In 2004, Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders accounted for 65 percent of all patients in substance abuse treatment in Hawaii, with more than 77 percent of those being treated for addiction to methamphetamine.
See how centers are incorporating more cultural-based therapy into substance abuse treatment as a result of this growing problem in Thursday's West Hawaii Today.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Big Island Police dog sniffs out illegal drugs
BY CHRIS LOOS
STEPHENS MEDIA GROUP
Wednesday, May 25, 2005 10:06 AM HST
Detective Ken Quiocho gets paid for playing catch with a dog. He's a canine handler with the Hawaii County Police Department and the game is the dog's reward for sniffing out illegal drugs.
In a demonstration Tuesday, another officer hid a jar of methamphetamine in the bushes outside the Hilo police station.
"Find it. Come on, Buddy. Find it," Quiocho said.
Nalu, a 3-year-old black Labrador retriever wearing a canvas police badge, sniffed around the bushes. When he got to the spot where the jar was concealed, he turned toward Quiocho and sat at attention.
The dog is trained to recognize the scent of methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine and marijuana.
On Monday, Nalu's training helped police win a bonus while working at a "Click It or Ticket" roadblock to check for seatbelt compliance.
Quiocho was out on the road with Nalu when he spotted his fellow officers at the roadblock at Kilauea Avenue and Mamo Street. He decided to join them.
After about an hour, Quiocho, who is certified as a drug recognition expert, became suspicious of two men in a car that had been stopped for speeding and having illegally tinted windows.
While another officer was writing a ticket, Nalu sniffed the car and then sat to signal the odor of drugs. That gave Quiocho probable cause to obtain a search warrant.
According to Quiocho, police found a wad of cash -- $191 -- in a pouch between the two front seats. Hidden in the core of the wad was .9 grams of methamphetamine. Officers also found two glass smoking pipes, a scale and plastic bags with residue. A second search warrant for the driver's wallet yielded 0.1 gram of methamphetamine and $85.
Police arrested the driver, 25-year-old Alfred Silva, and his passenger, 23-year-old Dustin Simms, both of Hilo, and took them to the Hilo cellblock on suspicion of promoting a dangerous drug and possessing drug paraphernalia. Quiocho said Tuesday he planned to question the men and then call prosecutors for a decision on whether to press charges and initiate a forfeiture on the car and cash.
Quiocho said the bust wasn't an uncommon event during a routine seatbelt checkpoint. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in January that using drug dogs outside a car during a legitimate traffic stop is constitutional. Quiocho said many law-abiding people at seatbelt checkpoints have a positive reaction when they see the dog.
The dog is also trained to hunt for drugs at airports, in buildings, at parcel delivery offices, in open fields, even in underground hideouts.
The largest drug seizure since Quiocho and Nalu began working as a team a year ago, was 20 pounds of heroin in a van parked at the Hilo pier. The team also nabbed 3 pounds of crystal methamphetamine delivered by FedEx to Post Net and arrested William Clifford, who was prosecuted by the federal government and is awaiting sentencing in July. "He's looking at 10 years," Quiocho said.
 Hawaii Tribune Herald, Sunday, August 15, 2004
Pounds of 'ice' seized<
Biggest-ever bust of crystal meth in Big Island history
by Tribune-Herald
An informant's tip has led to the biggest "ice" bust in Hawaii County history, police said.
Nearly 21 pounds of crystal methamphetamine with a street value of $1.4 million have been seized, police said.
Jose Alberto Prado, 26, of California was charged Saturday with first-degree promotion of dangerous drugs and illegal possession of drug paraphernalia. Prado is being held in the Hilo police cellblock in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Police also arrested a second suspect, identified as Cloefas Eduwiges Armenta of Honomu, for illegal possession of drug paraphernalia. He is being held pending further investigation.
"This arrest and drug seizure should notify drug dealers that the Hawaii County Police Department will not tolerate the trafficking of illegal drugs on the Big Island," Capt. Samuel Thomas, head of the East Hawaii Criminal Investigation Division, said in a written statement.
"It reinforces the department's resolution to carry out the mandate it has received from Mayor Harry Kim and Police Chief Lawrence Mahuna to stop the importation of crystal methamphetamine to the Big Island and the production of this drug on the Big Island," Thomas said.
Acting on a tip received by the Federal Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, police went to Hilo harbor and seized a 1995 Ford van that had been shipped here.
The officers obtained a search warrant, and on July 28 discovered a compartment located under the floor on the right front passenger's seat. In the compartment, they recovered the illegal drugs.
Police then set up surveillance on the van, which Prado signed for and picked up Thursday.
With police still watching, Prado apparently became suspicious and left the van in the parking lot of a Hilo mall, police said.
He was then arrested the following day on Banyan Drive in Hilo, police said.
Besides officers from the East Hawaii Ice Task Force and Vice Section, agents from the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, State Department of conservation and Resources Enforcement, State Narcotics Enforcement Department and the Hawaii Army National Guard's counter-drug program worked on the investigation.
|
Sunday, August 15, 2004 8:30 AM HST Largest ice bust in history
County Police charge man, seize 20 pounds of crystal methamphetamine
By TIFFANY EDWARDS
West Hawaii Today
HILO -- Authorities arrested two men and confiscated nearly 21 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, or "ice," last week, in what is being described as the largest seizure in the history of the Hawaii County Police Department.
Jose Alberto Prado, a 26-year-old resident of California, is being held at the Hilo cellblock in lieu of $100,000 bail. He faces charges of first-degree promotion of dangerous drugs and illegal possession of drug paraphernalia.
Cloefas Eduwiges Armenta, of Honomu, is being held pending further investigation on the charge of illegal possession of drug paraphernalia.
Police say they seized 20.93 pounds of ice with a street value of $1.4 million.
Pointing out ice is usually sold on the streets by the tenths of a gram, Hawaii County Police Capt. Samuel Thomas noted the seized drugs amount to 9,493.85 grams.
"We're happy 20 pounds is not going to hit the streets, but also sad that people think they can continue to bring in these types of quantities of drugs onto our island with the efforts law enforcement is making to combat ice," Thomas said.
"We ain't going to stop. We ain't going to ease up. Just because we have 20 pounds today doesn't mean we're not going to hit the ice house dealing tenth-of-a-gram quantities," he said.
Hawaii County police officers acted on a tip received by the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that they would find the drugs in a 1995 Ford van shipped to Hilo Harbor last month, according to a press release issued Saturday.
Officers from the East Hawaii Ice Task Force and Hilo Vice, working with state and federal agents, obtained a search warrant for the Ford van on July 28, and discovered the ice hidden under the floorboard on the passenger's side, the release states.
Officers set up surveillance on the van and, on Thursday, they say that Prado signed for and picked up the van with Armenta's help.
Officers maintained surveillance of the van and Prado and, speculating that Prado got suspicious, they say he parked the van in the parking lot of Prince Kuhio Plaza.
Police said they arrested Prado Friday at a hotel on Banyan Drive, but didn't specify which day and where Armenta was arrested.
Thomas said police haven't run into a lot of ice laboratories on the island; they believe it is being transported here.
"This could be one of the ways they're bring it that we hadn't caught up with until now," he said.
The East Hawaii Ice Task Force and Hilo VICE worked with federal agents from ICE, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Hawaii Army National Guard's counter-drug program. They worked with state agents from the Department of Conservation and Resources Enforcement and Narcotic Enforcement Department.
Tiffany@konacoast.com
|
West Hawaii Today, Tuesday, August 3, 2004 Feds hold ice hearing
Ed case, government officials discuss issues regarding drug use on Big Island
By KAREN IWAMOTO/ West Hawaii Today
Law enforcement officials said Monday that the Big Island -- despite receiving a $4.5 million federal grant to combat crystal methamphetamine -- still lacks resources to combat the illegal drug.
While officials claim a money shortage at the local level to fight "ice" (the moniker for the drug when smoked), outraged communities have rallied by starting grass-roots support groups and organizing sign wavings.
And sadly, treatment providers said some children admit to smoking marijuana with their parents.
These were just some of the issues that surfaced during a four-hour hearing at Kealakehe Intermediate School attended by government officials, federal law enforcement officers, local police and drug treatment providers.
The hearing, to gather testimony for the U.S. House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources, was the first of its kind in Hawaii.
The hearings are typically held in Washington, D.C., but Subcommittee Chairman Mark Souder (R-Ind.)., has recently taken the hearings on the road to Indiana, Michigan, Arkansas and finally Hawaii.
"Everywhere we go we hear about many of the same issues," Souder said. "The environmental damage caused by the labs; the high costs and long hours required for law enforcement agencies to process lab sites; the heartbreaking stories of children exposed to drugs and chemicals and the need of emergency medical care and a safe place to go."
The hearings aim to address three questions, he added. How to reduce the supply of meth? How do we deal with the environmental impact? And how do we get addicts into treatment and keep children from using drugs?
Rep. Ed Case, (D-Hawaii), a member of the bi-partisan subcommittee, also attended Monday's hearing.
He said Hawaii's startling statistics warranted national attention from the subcommittee. Case said Hawaii has the nation's highest rate of adults who have tried ice, with 6 percent of the state's high school seniors and 5 percent of its high school sophomores admitting to have tried ice.
Souder pointed out that Hawaii, especially the neighbor islands, are similar to rural communities on the mainland which feature inadequate public transportation, a faltering economy and not enough treatment facilities.
But unlike those areas, Hawaii received a $4.5 million grant from the Department of Justice, in large part due to U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii).
Case said the money presents Hawaii with an opportunity to lead the nation in innovative drug enforcement, treatment and prevention methods.
Already, $1.5 million in grant money has gone into funding the adolescent drug treatment program "Keala Hou" in Laupahoehoe, said Billy Kenoi, executive assistant to Mayor Harry Kim. Keala Hou roughly translates to "Restore to Health" and is running on an outpatient basis only. Kenoi said Keala Hou is scheduled to become the island's first adolescent residential drug treatment facility by the end of the year.
But problems still remain.
Federal law enforcement officials in Hawaii said ice labs are not the state's main source of the drug. Most of the ice is imported from Mexico, Asia, California and Nevada, but Hawaii lacks sufficient means to inspect all incoming packages at airports, harbors and post offices.
"Because of the way Hawaii's drug laws are written, a significant number of drug traffickers are identified but not prosecuted," said Larry D. Burnett, director of the Hawaii High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.
"Evidence obtained from federal wiretap and consensual encounters remain, at this time, inadmissible in Hawaii state courts. While evidence found during a federal investigation can be used in federal court, federal thresholds for drug possession are higher than the state level and arrested offenders not meeting federal thresholds are released without prosecution."
At the community level, treatment providers said fewer children and teenagers were trying ice, but that it is still socially acceptable for some families to get high together.
Parents may smoke marijuana with their children but almost never smoke ice with them, said Jamal Wassan, director of the Lokahi Treatment Program, but most people who test positive for ice also test positive for marijuana and alcohol.
"It's important that we include a cultural component in these treatments," said Alan Salavea of the County Prosecutor's Youth Builders Program. "We have to make them aware they are not bound by the behavior of their families, that they are in control of their own destiny."
At Case's request, at 9 a.m. Thursday, the subcommittee will visit Wailuku, Maui for a site visit and discussion at Ka Hale A Ke Ola Homeless Resource Center which is also a drug rehabilitation center.
kiwamoto@westhawaiitoday.com
|
West Hawaii Today, Monday, February 16, 2004 'Hugs Not Drugs' event planned for Friday
By KAREN IWAMOTO/ West Hawaii Today
Dozens of schools and community organizations are expected to participate in the third annual "Hugs Not Drugs" sign waving Friday at various locations around the island, said event coordinator Lil Beaufrere.
"The first year we had more than 1,500 people show up and last year we had more than 2,200 show up so we're hoping to see even more people this year," she said.
She said she can't prove the sign wavings are putting a stop to neighborhood drug activity, but it is at least getting relevent information to the community.
"I am hearing a lot of people say, 'I know how to get involved now. I know which organizations are out there that I can support,'" she said.
"We want to make an even bigger public statement and keep this drug issue on the front burner, especially with the (state) Legislature in session now," she added.
The times and locations for the "Hugs Not Drugs" sign waving are listed below:
West Hawaii:
Kailua Village - Kona 3 - 6pm: Palani and Queen Kaahumanu. Info: Jan Rae (325 - 4991) or janiamone@aol.com
Kailua Village - Kona 3 - 6pm: At the entrance of University of Nations on Kuakini Hwy: Info: Eva Filliskes (937 - 0548) konaoutreach@uofnkona.edu
Kealakekua: 3 - 6pm: Mauka of Konawaena Elementary School. Info: Chris Matsuoka (987 - 4510) paikona@yahoo.com
Keauhou Shopping Center: 4 - 6pm: Ali`i Drive Entrance. Info: Mara Amone (324 - 6000) or rohanahalehi@aol.com
Ka'u - Naalehu: 3 - 5pm: Highway 11 - Methodist Church. Info: Colleen Gundakers (929 - 9308) or gundakers@msn.com
Napoopoo: 3 - 5pm: Napoopoo Rd & Hwy 11 top / Napoopoo & Puuhonua Rds bottom. Info: Louise Winn (640 - 1454) or swinn@hawaii.rr.com
North Kohala: 3 - 5pm, Thurs., Feb. 19: Between Kohala Elementary School stretching to Kapaau Post Office. Info: Lani Obina (889 - 5930) or dlobina@gte.net
Ocean View: 3 - 6pm: Hwy 11 between Hawaii and Lehua Roads. Info: Bob Barry (929 8784) or barry@hialoha.com
Pahala: 3 - 6pm: In Town. Info: Carla Andrade (928 - 6268) or kauroyal@gte.net
Waikoloa: 3:30 - 5:30pm: Paniolo Drive near Waikoloa Village Marketplace. Info: Jan Sears 883 - 0583 and Laurie Jo Rogers 883 - 1018
Waimea: 3 - 5:30pm: Historic Church Row Park. Info: Angela Thomas (990 - 6754) or act216@hotmail.com or Maren Oom (887 - 6562) alohamaren@hotmail.com
East Hawaii:
Hilo Bay: Front Chevron - Ironworks 3 - 6pm. Info: Char Merritt (937 - 2124) or csnm@hotmail.com
Hilo: Kanoelehua Ave. fronting Kamaaina Nissan 4 - 6pm. Info: Jay Ignacio (969 - 0224) jignacio@hei.com or Sue Akim Seu (969 - 0127) sakimseu@hei.co
Hilo KTA SuperStore: Hwy 11 4 - 6pm. Rotary Clubs of East Hawai`i Info: Nancy Cabral (935 - 4152) or ncabral@daylum.com
Honokaa: 3:30 - 5:30pm : - T Kaneshiro Store corner. Info: Phyllis Tarail & Joel Cohen (775 - 1306) or waipiohi@interpac.net
Keaau: 2:30 - 5pm: Entrance to Shipment Park. Info: Kehau Sloan (960 - 3065) or kehau@turquoise.net
Laupahoehoe School: 12:30 - 1:30pm. Info: Lucille Chung (934 - 0203) or lchung@qlcc.org
Laupahoehoe: 3 - 5:30pm: Train Museum. Info: Lucille Chung (934 - 0203) or lchung@qlcc.org
Ookala: Intersection fronting Ookala Gym. Info: Valarie Poindexter (962 - 0056) or valariepoindexter@msn.com
Paauilo: 1:15 - 2pm: Paauilo School Info: Sue Dela Cruz (776 - 1159) or aloha_sue@yahoo.com
Paauilo: 3:30 - 5:30pm: In front of Pa`auilo Store. Info: Sue Dela Cruz (776 - 1159) or aloha_sue@yahoo.com
Pahoa: 3 - 6pm: Pahoa High School and at the Welcome to Pahoa Town Sign. Info: Randy Like (982 - 9555) or kaipolike@hotmail.com
Pahoa: 4 - 5pm: At intersection of Hwy 130 & Leilani Ave. Info: Roberta Hole (965 - 0330) or donutlady @intergate.com
Panaewa: 3 - 5pm: Puainako & Kanoelehua intersection . Info: Pearl Haili (959 - 8136) or panaewa@turquoise.net
Papaaloa: 3 - 5:30pm: At the 24 mile marker. Info. Lucille Chung (934 - 0203) or lchung@qlcc.org
Puna: 3 - 5:30pm: Entrance Ainaloa Subdivision Hwy 130. Info: Audrey Eskelson (982 - 5636) or resehi@msn.com
Volcano Village 1: 3:30 - 5:30pm: Between Akasuka Store Hwy 11 - entrance of Golf Course. Wavers at all Ali`i Streets. Info: Betsy Mitchell (967 - 7209)
Volcano Village II: 3:30pm - 5:30: At Hwy 11 entrance of Volcano National Park. Info: Betsy Mitchell (967 - 7209)
kiwamoto@westhawaiitoday.com
|
West Hawaii Today, Tuesday, January 13, 2004 Ice: Focus on treatment
By KAREN IWAMOTO/ West Hawaii Today
Hamakawa: "We got the message that this was a health problem"
The solution to the state's ice (crystal methamphetamine) epidemic is not stricter penalties, but more comprehensive treatment and prevention measures.
That's according to findings by the state Legislature's joint task force on ice and drug abatement, which convened in June. It suggested the state set aside almost $21.6 million to address the problem.
"When we went out and talked to the community we got the message that this was a health problem," said Rep. Eric Hamakawa, co - chairman of the task force. "Yes, we have to crack down on the people manufacturing. But those who are addicted, who need help, are the real concern."
To that end, the task force recommended the state set aside $4.5 million for early intervention and treatment for school children and an additional $3.6 million for substance abuse prevention with a focus on youth and families. It recommended the state set aside $10.7 million for substance abuse treatment for adults and $1.2 million to expand the state's Drug Court program. It further suggested state law be amended to allow courts to decide whether to grant probation to first time non - violent drug offenders.
It also recommended changing state laws to make it easier for relatives to send addicted family members to treatment facilities.
"That was one of the things a lot of people brought up at the meetings," Rep. Bob Herkes said. "That if they had a son or brother who was addicted to ice, what could they do other than have him arrested? Nothing."
The task force did not recommend amending the state's constitution to allow for the walk and talk program, which would let police question passengers at airports, but said it would consider changing the state's wiretap law and approve funding for canine crews at state harbors.
"The main thrust is early intervention," said Sen. Colleen Hanabusa, co - chairwoman of the task force. "If you take away one drug without providing treatment you create a vacuum for another drug to come in. Hopefully through treatment and prevention we can avoid the fallback."
It also recommended employers offer mandatory drug education and awareness training and receive tax credit for doing so. In addition, insurance companies offer the same kind of coverage for substance abuse that it would for mental illnesses.
However, the findings also revealed holes in Hawaii's defense against ice.
For example, Hamakawa said, there is almost no information on impact of toxic materials produced by clandestine labs in Hawaii and no process to determine whether the site itself is an environmental hazard. Toxic chemicals leaching into the ground could corrupt Hawaii's drinking water.
The task force recommended setting aside $300,000 to conduct a comprehensive study to address this.
This is only the second time in the state's history the Legislature convened a joint task force to investigate an issue, members of the task force said.
But both agreed the public outcry could not be ignored.
"Where else would you go to a town hall meeting in Waianae and find (U.S. Attorney) Ed Kubo and everyone else there?" Hanabusa said.
The next step will be for the state to decide whether to implement the task force's recommendations, Hanabusa said. Public hearings are planned to discuss any changes and public support will be essential, she added, urging residents to contact their elected officials.
kiwamoto@westhawaiitoday.com
|
© Copyright Solutions: Neighborhoods in Action
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
VS Web Design
|
| | |
