Letters to the Editor
Monday, August 18, 1997

Sorry economy is due to
success of 'Green Harvest'

The Hawaii economic collapse is the result of cannabis eradication
efforts.

In 1989, thenAttorney General Warren Price valued Hawaii's
pakalolo crop at $10 billion a year. Growers spending their
profits locally generated $416.7 million in state sales tax
revenues from that $10 billion crop.

When Governor Waihee took office, there was a $500 million
surplus, whose origin went unexplained. When Waihee left office,
there was an unexpected $250 million deficit, the cause of which
was also a mystery.

What economists have failed to acknowledge is the success of
"Green Harvest." It killed the bird that laid the golden egg and
propelled Hawaii's fragile economy, which is overly dependent on
tourism, into an economic tailspin from which we are yet to
recover.

The Rev. Dennis Shields
Captain Cook, Hawaii
(Via the Internet)