BIG ISLAND CRYSTAL METH EPIDEMIC CAUSING RISE IN CHILD ABANDONMENT

HILO, Hawai'i -- Family violence caused by the use of crystal
methamphetamine has reached epidemic proportions on the Big Island,
according to community leaders, social workers and police who will be
discussing the problem this week in Kona and Hilo.

It has gotten so bad that users of the drug commonly known as ice are
abandoning their children and abusing household pets, according to
county officials.

The first session, already overbooked, will be at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow at
Nani Mau Gardens. It features drug expert Trinka Poratta, a national
figure on the problem of violence and drug abuse. That program also will
deal with "club drugs."

The second event will be at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Kealakehe Intermediate
School in North Kona by the newly formed Community Response to Ice,
known as CRI.

Councilwoman Nancy Pisicchio, who has worked for a year on the ice
problem in West Hawai'i, said she is stunned by the level of violence
against women, children and even pets by the users. There are a lot
children being abandoned, she said.

Susan McCree, who supervises 150 cases in Ka'u and Kona for the state
Child Welfare Services, said she believes about 85 percent of the
children come from families with ice users.

McCree said the behavior of parents on ice is different from those on
alcohol or other drugs. "They forget they have kids," she said, noting
they do not fight to keep them as they usually do in other situations.
"They just walk away after the first hearing."

She said the abusers come from all ethnic and income groups. Schools are
affected because students attend classes wearing the same rumpled
clothes day after day. They often are hungry and tired because their
parents have been up all night using ice, she said. She believes more
women abandoned their children than men.

"There is a lot of phenomena in dealing with this problem," she said.

Capt. John Dawrs of Kona said ignoring children is what separates ice
from other drug users.

"Most parents will fight to get back their kids, whether they are on
cocaine or heroin. But with ice, they just don't seem to care," he said.

Crime is up in neighborhoods where ice is sold and used, according to
Pisicchio.

Dawrs said he does not disagree but it is hard to pinpoint neighborhood
figures because crime totals are kept for both North and South Kona
combined. "Much of our property crime (burglaries and thefts) are
related to drugs, particularly ice," Dawrs said.

At Thursday's session, Pisicchio said doctors will discuss the permanent
brain damage suffered by users. Also on the program is Mayor Harry Kim,
who earlier this year declared war on ice and urged police to make it a
priority.