ON THE HOME (GROWN) FRONT

The U.S. government has spent tens of millions of dollars to eradicate
marijuana in Hawai`i, much of it going into the pockets of Hawai`i County
police officers. Over 5 million plants were seized in the 1990s alone, most
of it on the Big Island. But pot is still plentiful in the Islands; it's
just that a sizable chunk now comes from Mexico, California, Columbia and
especially British Columbia, where growers have perfected a high-yield,
high-potency indoor crop. Marijuana also costs three times more -- $600 an
ounce -- than it did 25 years ago, when Operation Green Harvest began.

Neither the U.S. Attorney's Office, the local branch of the Drug
Enforcement Agency, the Honolulu Police Department nor the state Department
of Public Safety (which oversees Halawa High/Medium Security Facility)
could (or would) provide data to Honolulu Weekly on arrest and imprisonment
numbers. DPS explained that they simply didn't know the numbers, because
prison-sentencing statistics are not broken down that way. People sent to
jail are often put there on multiple charges.

So we checked with NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws (normal.org), which tracks marijuana-related arrest and
conviction figures for all 50 states by using several crime-reporting
surveys, including county-by-county data. According to NORML, from 1995 to
1997, there were over 4,650 pot busts in Hawai`i, an "arrest quotient"
about half the national average. However, the Big Island alone had an
arrest rate nearly twice the nation's in '95, though that figure dropped
over the next two years to rest comparably with national averages. (Maui,
Kaua`i and Honolulu have arrest rates less than the average, although
Honolulu's arrest rate during that time jumped 19 percent while Maui's
leaped 44 percent.)

All told, based on NORML's numbers, some 135 people per 100,000 were
brought in by police throughout the Islands between 1995 and 1997; we just
can't tell you how many of them eventually ended up in the slammer. We can
tell you that Hawai`i ranks 37th for marijuana arrest rates (Nevada is
first, followed by North Dakota and North Carolina).

On the Big Island, pot and hemp advocates have aggressively pushed for, if
not decriminalization of the drug, easing up on drug raids. To that end,
the Hawai`i County Council authorized a resolution on March 9 that approves
the acceptance of federal funds to wipe out pot growers only on the
condition that 1) helicopter flights and rappelling be limited when over
residential areas (unless "probable cause" exists); 2) complaints are
recorded publicly within 30 days of raids; 3) that a plan be developed to
set aside a portion of confiscated cannabis for medical-marijuana use; and
that 4) aerial defoliation sprays not be used by county police.

FYI: According to NORML's easy-to-use and exhaustive database, possessionof
less than 1 ounce of grass in Hawai`i is subject to a penalty of up to 30
days in jail and a $1,000 fine. Having more than an ounce but under 2.2 p
ounds means up to one year in jail and $2,000. Up to 40 pounds could lead
to a maximum penalty of up to five years and $10,000, and as much as 10
years and $25,000 above that amount. (Cultivation of plants can lead to
similar penalties). Lastly, any pot confiscated from a vehicle causes ALL
passengers to be charged with possession -- regardless of who supplied the
stash.