KAHALU'U LEADS THE WAY IN DRUG FIGHT

Law enforcement people will tell you that drug dealing tends to flourish in
neighborhoods where the residents are either indifferent - or actually
afraid to do anything about it.

Which brings us to the residents of Kahalu'u, who are anything but
indifferent and far from cowed in the face of drug dealers and other
criminal elements.

As Windward O'ahu writer Eloise Aguiar pointed out in an article on the
Windward community's new anti-"ice" campaign, Kahalu'u has a long and proud
history of vibrant, forceful community activism. Now, the community will
join hands to speak out against the threat of crystal methamphetamine. On
Friday, there will be a mass show of force with hundreds of sign-wavers
lining Kamehameha Highway.

Now, clearly, sign-waving and community meetings alone will not wipe out
crime. But what this outpouring of neighborhood activism shows is that the
residents of Kahalu'u are not going to let someone else, drug dealer or
otherwise, decide their future for them.

Law enforcement officials have praised the community action and have
promised support. They should jump in with both feet because residents have
taken the first and most important step: They have said "no."