FUNDS FOR MARIJUANA REMOVAL REJECTED

Big Island Police Say Council Vote May Limit Other Law Enforcement

HILO, Hawai'i -- For the second time in eight years, the Big Island
County Council has refused to accept grant money to finance county
marijuana eradication programs, and Big Island police say that move
may hamper other law enforcement work, including efforts to crack
down on harder drugs.

The council last week deadlocked in a 4-4 vote over whether to accept
$282,000 in federal money and $159,000 in state funds to target
marijuana-growing operations. The tie means the council will not
accept the money, and East Hawai'i Vice Commander Lt. Samuel Jelsma
said he is not aware of any plan by police to resubmit the measures
to the council for reconsideration.

Danielle Ciccone, who submitted testimony to the council opposed to
eradication, said she hopes the vote will increase public awareness
of the problems with the overflights. She sees the eradication
efforts as violations of residents' constitutional right to be free
of illegal searches and seizures of their property.

"I think they should respect the people and respect the council and
cease these overflights immediately for good of the land and the good
of the people," she said.

Ciccone is a supporter of Project Peaceful Sky, an initiative
organizers say has collected 3,000 signatures on a petition urging
the county to make marijuana eradication "the lowest police priority."

Previously, grant funds have covered the costs tied to renting
private helicopters for flights to spot marijuana patches and
transport officers to remote locations to yank out plants. Jelsma
said that work will continue, although "we will have to adapt our
operations around this decision."

"It is our sworn duty to enforce all state laws, and the illegal
cultivation of marijuana will continue to be one of our department's
priorities," Jelsma said. "We will not turn a blind eye to its
proliferation simply because a vocal minority may feel that it is acceptable."

Jelsma said eradication grant money was also tapped to train officers
locally or on the Mainland for drug enforcement operations of all
types, including efforts to curb distribution of methamphetamine and cocaine.

"We don't have that option now," he said. Training for ice and
cocaine enforcement will have to come from more limited grant money
the department has received to target hard drugs, he said.

In addition, the marijuana grant money was to pay overtime for
officers involved in eradication programs, and that overtime pay will
now have to come from the overall police budget, Jelsma said.

Big Island police now plan to rely more heavily on the Hawai'i Army
National Guard and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration for
helicopters for observation flights. He said the department is also
in discussions with "other agencies" to obtain additional helicopter access.

If that access isn't available, police plan to fly helicopters to
spot marijuana plants, and then dispatch officers on the ground to
serve search warrants and remove plants.

"Our goal is to prevent the opening of the Pandora's box on illegal
growing of marijuana to the point where it reverts back to the 1970s
when it was out of control and the public was demanding the police
take action against it."

The council refused to accept grant money in late 2000, but later
voted to accept eradication grant money in 2001 with a condition that
police would follow new administrative rules.

Those rules required that spotting helicopters stay at least 1,000
feet away from homes in rural subdivisions, and that officers
recognize licensed users of marijuana under the state medical marijuana law.