The day-long Kaua‘i anti-drug planning forum, held at the Kaua‘i Coconut Beach Resort Saturday, showed there is a wide range of support both locally and in Washington behind the island’s war on ice use. With speakers such as U.S. Senator
The day-long Kaua‘i anti-drug planning forum, held at the Kaua‘i Coconut Beach Resort Saturday, showed there is a wide range of support both locally and in Washington behind the island’s war on ice use.
With speakers such as U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye; Edward H. Kubo, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawai‘i; and Lieutenant Governor James R. “Duke” Aiona, the message of the day was that solutions for the war on ice must come from within the community.
“You want to be part of solution, not just talking about it. Your standing up and stepping forward is the first step,” said Inouye at his lunchtime speech. “There is no silver bullet, no single answer, (so) I want you to do your thing.”
“There is lot of momentum going,” said Aiona. “I can see it. I can feel it. We have to have a consolidated effort.”
The meetings, chaired by the county’s anti-drug coordinator, Roy Nishida and attended by 140 people, was to create a specific plan with which the community could fight the war on drugs.
Mayor Bryan Baptiste, after returning from the Veterans Day Parade held in Kapa‘a town, compared the ice epidemic to the wars in which Kaua‘i veterans had fought.
“Here we are as soldiers in a new conflict, maybe not a new conflict, but one we must win, for this generation and generations to come,” Baptiste said. Through this meeting, “we are entering into a partnership that will make this effort successful.”
While the morning was filled with speeches, the afternoon featured focus groups through which a mission statement could be made.
While some of the most emotional pleas came from two former “ice” addicts, U. S. Attorney Kubo gave a stirring speech where he outlined ways in which the state government could change to further help the war on drugs.
“Ice is the most dangerous of all drugs today, robbing our future, killing our children,” he said. “Enough talk about problem. We need to discuss solutions.”
He outlined three solutions that, he said, would make the most impact.
The first, more long-term substance abuse and treatment programs, would also involve making the medical insurance companies pay for treatment more than once.
“We need accessible, affordable treatment for men women, and children who are addicted,” Kubo said. “We have a conglomeration of attempts, but no overall strategy.”
“We have heard an estimated 30,000 people in Hawai‘i” are on ice, the U.S. attorney said. “Drug treatment is necessary and required for our survival. (Addicts) should be able to go back over time” until it works.
Meanwhile, there are not enough beds to for those who need help.
“Each day in Hawai‘i between 150 and 300 are waiting to get into drug treatment. That kills their fight,” Ed Kubo said.
Ice is a “horrendous mental-health issue, and a severe challenge to law enforcement in Hawai‘i.”
He also proposed school drug testing and more education.
“Drug test all children before each grade,” he said. “The issue here is tough love. As ‘ohana, we must say, ‘I love you, but you have a problem and you’re going to get help whether you like it or not.'”
Kids “who may be infected with this drug, get them clean and sober so they can be productive citizens,” Kubo said, while addressing non at-risk kids by having drug education at every level of the schools.
DARE is a good program, but what works for a third grader might not work for a tenth grader, said the federal district attorney, proposing a grade-specific education program.
“Now is Hawaii’s moment. If we don’t…grab the momentum now, we will lose a generation.”
The third area, Kubo said, was “my kuleana,” law enforcement.
“Times have changed. In the ’60s and ’70s personal privacy was more important to us than community safety. Today, when you have an ice epidemic killing our kids, community safety has risen,” he said.
So to cut off the importation of methamphetamine and to get rid of it when it gets here, Kubo said, certain areas, where personal privacy was celebrated, must be changed.
For example, two programs that have been declared unconstitutional in Hawai‘i have been successful in other states.
The “walk and talk program,” where a person could be asked to consent to a search in the airports, was declared unconstitutional in 1992.
Kubo said that the main way that ice gets into the state is via air travel. By taking away the availability of police to search suspicious individuals coming from “source cities, police backed off the airports.”
“Our borders have not been protected in this state,” he added. “No one is guarding the hen house.”
Secondly, he said, another successful program, “knock and talk,” has been declared against the state constitution.
If someone calls the police, saying that their neighbor is dealing drugs, a police officer cannot respond, he said.
“Police need evidence now; you just can’t knock on the door.”
And the third law he said that he would like changed is the state wiretap laws.
“State wiretap laws are pilau. We need to make state law consistent with federal law or for the state courts accept federal wiretap evidence.
“Our office turns away between 70 and 130 cases a year because they don’t meet federal prosecution guidelines,” and people are let go because the state police can’t use the wiretap evidence in state courts, he said.
While, for a federal wiretap, the attorney turns over their information to a judge, in Hawai‘i, the public defender’s office receives the information, usually including confidential informants, undercover officers, places under surveillance, and other sensitive information.
“It is such a dangerous risk, we don’t use state wiretaps,” he said, to protect the confidentiality of those working on the case.
Staff writer Tom Finnegan can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 226)
