DEA SAYS IT MAY ASSUME POT PROGRAM

HILO -- Should Hawaii County refuse to accept a $282,000 federal Drug
Enforcement Administration grant for the island's marijuana eradication
program, there is a possibility federal authorities will initiate their own
eradication program, a DEA official said Friday.

Garrison Courtney, a DEA official in Washington, D.C., said his agency
typically tries to respect the efforts of local jurisdictions in
controlling illegal drugs like marijuana.

"There's a possibility" the DEA would initiate its own marijuana
eradication program on the Big Island if the local Police Department was
unable to control the problem and if it were discovered harvested crops
were being shipped to the mainland, he said.

advertisementIf the DEA feels there is a trafficking problem, "then yes,
we're most likely going to step in to relieve the trafficking," Courtney said.

Police Chief Lawrence Mahuna expressed concerns this week regarding the
possibility of the County Council voting against accepting the grant money.
The Police Department has little funding from previous grants remaining for
the eradication program, which has been operating on a minimal basis in
recent months.

The latest DEA grant available is sorely needed to continue the program,
Mahuna said, and he believes the program will eventually be taken over by
the DEA if the council refuses the money.

Mahuna also said he is concerned that, should the council decide to not
accept the grant, the DEA would be able to operate the program outside of
the parameters established by the council. For instance, the council has
control over how low to the ground police helicopters can fly when
searching for marijuana crops.

Courtney said if the DEA initiated an eradication program on the island, it
would attempt to respect laws of the local government, but the bottom line
is the agency operates under federal regulations, not laws established by
local governments.

Council members who were asked Thursday on how they plan to vote on the
grant issue were all over the board: some are on the fence, some favor the
program and others are against it.

Puna Councilwoman Emily Naeole said she's against the program because she's
heard too many stories from constituents about police using violence in
drug raids.

Courtney, however, said DEA officials also have to resort to violence
sometimes when making busts.

Drug dealers and people responsible for growing illegal marijuana crops are
"not going to greet you with a smile and a handshake," he said.

"The unfortunate part about drug enforcement is the violence," Courtney said.

When law enforcement authorities show up at a home of a person responsible
for growing large quantities of marijuana, because there's usually a lot of
cash at stake and the notion the person will end up in jail for a long
time, "there's going to be violence," he said.

The council's Finance Committee is slated to discuss the grant during an
April 8 meeting, and the full council is expected to vote on it during a
subsequent meeting.