Living on the same street as an “ice” drug house is becoming too common of an occurrence in Hawaii. That’s the word legislators got from communities across Hawaii during the recently convened session of the Legislature. Such houses are centers
Living on the same street as an “ice” drug house is becoming too common of an occurrence in Hawaii.
That’s the word legislators got from communities across Hawaii during the recently convened session of the Legislature.
Such houses are centers for dealing, using and in some cases manufacturing the drug crystal methamphetamine. The street name for the illegal drug is “ice.”
In signing House Bill 297 Monday Gov. Linda Lingle added a new weapon in the statewide battle against the destructive drug.
The bill releases $100,000 in funding July 1 to create a legal team within the attorney general’s office. The team will go after landlords and property owners who allow tenants to manufacture and deal drugs, with a goal of ridding communities of such places.
A call-in system with a hot line is set to be in place once the legal team is organized.
Hawaii has the highest per capita use of ice or crystal meth in the United States, according to State Department of Health statistics.
Representatives Ezra Kanoho, D-East Kauai; Bertha Kawakami, D-South and West Kauai and Niihau; and Mina Morita, D-North Kauai, were some introducers of the house bill.
Morita said the bill is a “small step in addressing the problem, it’s a step that we hope will bring results.”
She said within Kauai’s communities one of the biggest frustrations is having a known drug house located nearby, but no anonymous way to report the problem.
Now, local residents will soon be able to call the attorney general’s office with such concerns, she said.
Hawaii’s problem with ice and other illegal drugs was one of the few issues brought to legislators this year directly from communities, Morita said.
It was a common issue that stood out in this session of the Legislature, she said.
Morita said the first draft of the house bill introduced in January called for the creation of a strike force made up of retired police officers.
“The thought behind that was when you work these cases, you need to do a lot of investigative work,” she said, pointing to a chronic shortage of officers in county police departments across Hawaii.
TGI Editor Chris Cook can be reached at mailto:ccook@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 227).
