HAWAII METH PROJECT: DON'T -- 'EVEN ONCE'

Surveyed Youth Still See Dangerous Drug As A Way To Lose Weight, Get
More Energy

KAHULUI - A narcotics police captain, a judge and the island's
medical examiner provided real-life stories and statistics to
underscore an anti-methamphetamine campaign aimed at young people
across the state.

The message: "Not Even Once."

It comes from the Hawaii Meth Project, a statewide program aimed at
significantly reducing first-time meth use through public service
messages, public policy and community outreach.

The Meth Project does not offer treatment for addicts but rather
emphasizes the importance of shaping public policy and the perception
of crystal methamphetamine, also known as ice in Hawaii, particularly
among young people.

Second Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza said the typical advice a
criminal with a history of methamphetamine use gives to a young
person is: "Don't get started."

Cardoza said he quickly learned in Drug Court and in countless
criminal cases that there's no such thing as a casual meth user.

"The phrase I see very often is: 'I thought I could quit whenever I
wanted to. But now I know I can't,' " he said during a Hawaii Meth
Project program held last week at Maui Community College.

Cardoza said he was once overwhelmed when he attended a Christmas
party for Drug Court participants who appeared to be on the road of
recovery. The judge said he was struck by the 250-plus children of
the adults participating in the drug rehab program.

"Prevention is far better than working on the cure," he said. Addicts
tell him, time and time again: "There's no in between. You can't use
a little bit."

About 60 people showed up for Hawaii Meth Project last week. Other
speakers included Mayor Charmaine Tavares, Capt. Gerald Matsunaga of
the Maui Police Department Vice Division and Maui County Medical
Examiner Dr. Anthony Manoukian.

Tavares opened by describing ice as "one of the most terrible drugs
in our community."

Matsunaga said that, in both his personal and professional life, he
has seen the addiction in children, young adults and senior citizens
for two decades now.

"The drug has no prejudices," he said, adding that people of all
races, genders and economic and social statuses have all fallen prey
to methamphetamine.

On the streets, Matsunaga said, he's seen the tragic effects that
addiction to the drug has had on families. With methamphetamine
costing an average of $200 to $250 a gram, people resort to crime to
pay for their habit. Eventually, they lose their material
possessions, their jobs and, often, their close relationships with family.

"I've seen people steal from their parents. . . . It's very bad when
they steal from their parents," Matsunaga said.

He said he's seen only three or four people "cured," or gotten rid of
their addiction, the first time they tried to shake it off.
"Everybody else I know has gone back to it, at least one time," Matsunaga said.

Like Cardoza, Matsunaga is hopeful that prevention will work to stop
people from taking methamphetamine. He advised parents to pay
attention to who their children's friends are and what they're doing,
particularly at night.

Manoukian said he started tallying meth-related deaths in 1995 and
has since counted 110 through 2008. But the doctor, who serves as the
coroner's physician for the Maui Police Department, said he believes
that number doesn't represent all the deaths linked to the drug.

Meth-related deaths are those in which an autopsy shows
methamphetamine in the blood at the time of death. Manoukian said
there are many other deaths that are exacerbated by the use of meth,
but they may not count statistically because the drug wasn't present
in the body at the time of death.

Of the 110 deaths he tallied from 1995 to 2008, 80 percent of them
were males, Manoukian said. The youngest victim was 16. Most meth
deaths are of people in their 30s and 40s.

Cindy Adams, executive director of the Hawaii Meth Project, said her
office's radio and TV ads have been targeting 12- to 17-year-olds.
Many of the ads feature young addicts in Hawaii talking about how the
drug has harmed their lives.

A 17-year-old Kailua-Kona girl, for example, admitted she had become
a prostitute to support her habit.

"I always despised girls like that. I became one," she said in an ad
shown Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, a 16-year-old boy from Waianae, Oahu, spoke in a separate
radio commercial about starting meth at age 12. "I wish I could take
back the pain I caused," he said, referring to the impact his drug
use had on his family.

Adams read off statistics collected just last month in a statewide
survey about teens' attitudes and knowledge of methamphetamine and
addiction to the drug.

Thirty-five percent of those participating in the Meth Project survey
believed that ice would cause them to lose weight. Another 24 percent
said the drug gives people more energy, and 21 percent said it makes
people happy.

About 19 percent of teens surveyed said methamphetamine was easy to
acquire, and fewer than half said they'd spoken to their parents
about the drug within the last year. "That's an important statistic
because we know parents (and) families can influence whether a teen
takes drugs or not," she said.

According to Adams, Hawaii ranks fifth in the nation for percentage
of people 12 and older who use methamphetamine. She said the Meth
Project will continue to offer public service programs to reach more
young people and their families.

For more information, go to www.hawaiimethproject.org.