METH PROBLEM IN SPOTLIGHT

Mayor, Doctor And Judge Among Speakers Who Tackled Issue At Forum

Astute television viewers have noticed over the last few months a new
series of graphic commercials designed to shock them into learning
the dangers of methamphetamine.

The ads are easy to recognize. In general, healthy, attractive
teenagers agree to try meth "just this once" and soon devolve into
shrunken, disease-ridden shadows of their former selves.

One emergency room technician, however, told the executive director
of the Hawaii Meth Project that the ads weren't graphic enough.

Such is the danger of meth, ice, or speed, the easily manufactured,
highly addictive drug that drew about 30 people to a forum in Hilo.

The Hawaii Meth Project is part of a large, targeted effort among
several states to prevent the use of the drug among teenagers and
young adults. Up to now, the project has been best known for
blanketing the television and radio stations with advertisements
designed to bring out the true cost of the drug. The meeting in Hilo
- -- and one planned for Kailua-Kona on July 28 -- is part of that effort.

Speakers included Mayor Billy Kenoi, Third Circuit Judge Greg
Nakamura, physician Christopher Linden and community policing officer
Jesse Kerr.

"And just realize that this isn't a criminal justice issue. That this
is a community issue. This is a family issue," Kenoi said. "And
because this impacts everybody in the community, everybody in the
community needs to be part of that solution. Nobody has an answer.
It's not an easy answer.

"I think we all recognize that it's going to take everybody doing
their part to really sustain this effort and that's where the Hawaii
Meth Project, I think, really adds a lot of value."

Cindy Adams, executive director of the anti-meth organization, said
the ads were crucial in reducing the amount of abuse in Montana.

Following the start of the Montana Meth Project, the state had gone
from fifth in the nation for meth abuse in September 2005 to 39th in two years.

Today, Adams said, Hawaii occupies the No. 5 slot for meth use among
those age 12 and up. Forty-three percent of federal convictions in
Hawaii involve meth use. And 7.3 percent of 10th-graders have said
they used meth. The drug abuse costs Hawaii $500 million a year.

Adams also showed photos of drug users from across the country,
several months apart, in what has been popularly known on the
Internet as the "Faces of Meth." She also showed close-up photos of
the particularly gruesome phenomenom known as "meth mouth," where the
teeth and gums of users rapidly decay and fall out.

The TV ads were staged to show the effects of meth, but the radio
spots featured real stories of Hawaii teens.

In one ad, "Kaleo," 16, tells how he started using meth at age 12 and
would sleep on the streets. Adams said that he was picked off the
streets of Chinatown, spent 30 days in the hospital, but ran away
prior to being discharged to get another hit.

In another spot, "Jessica," 17, of Kailua-Kona speaks of how she
would sell her body to get meth. Adams said that Jessica would be
attending the Kona meeting.

Kerr, the police officer, passed around seized glass vials as
examples of drug paraphernalia, and a small packet of the drug
itself. He told of how attorneys and Honolulu police officers have
been hooked on ice.

"It's scary stuff. I've never seen anything like it," Kerr said.

"When you talk about a meth user, you're talking about someone who
has a great deal of loss," said Nakamura, the drug court judge for
East Hawaii. "A meth user has a hard, hard time coming back."

The next meeting will be 6-7:30 p.m. July 28 at the Kealakehe High
School Library. For more information, call (877)-445-METH.

On the Internet: http://www.hawaiimethproject.org .