POT ERADICATION CONTINUES

Raids Net 1,821 Plants on Windward Big Island

Helicopters took to the skies Monday through Thursday for marijuana
eradication, police said.

"Monday, we seized and eradicated a total of 1,302 plants from
seedlings to 5 feet in height from Fern Acres, Hawaiian Acres and
Orchidland," said Lt. Richard Sherlock of Hilo Vice Section.
"(Tuesday), it was just a morning mission. It was a total of 519
marijuana plants from seedlings to 10 feet, mostly from lower Puna and
some out in Honokaa and Papaaloa." The total for the eradication
mission Monday and Tuesday was 1,821 marijuana plants.

Sherlock said Honolulu and Maui police, plus the federal Drug
Enforcement Administration, the Hawaii National Guard and Hawaii
Volcanoes National Park rangers assisted Big Island police in East
Hawaii. Lt. Miles Chong of Kona Vice Section said the same agencies,
except for park rangers, provided support in West Hawaii.

"We seized or recovered 1,171 plants (Wednesday and Thursday) with
efforts concentrated in the Ka'u and South Kona districts," Chong said.

There were no arrests or incidents reported on either side of the
island.

More precise plot locations, including numbers of plants uprooted from
each site and whether plants were on public or private property, will
be available in a required report by police to the County Council
within 30 days.

Meanwhile, figures in a report from Police Chief Harry Kubojiri to
Council Chairman J Yoshimoto dated Sept. 3 reveal that uprooting done
in August included four pulls of fewer than 24 plants from patches on
private property.

The latest "Counter Cannabis" operation is the third since voters
overwhelmingly approved a ballot initiative in November making adult
personal use of marijuana on private property the lowest law
enforcement priority. It's second multiday eradication effort of the
fiscal year that started July 1.

The so-called "Peaceful Sky" law defines adult personal use of
marijuana on private property as possession of 24 or fewer plants or
24 ounces or less of dried marijuana.

A caller from Ocean View told the Tribune-Herald that police
confiscated fewer than 24 plants from his private property during the
operation this week. The man said that he is considering filing a
complaint against the police.

A report on East Hawaii eradication that took place Aug. 17 and 18
states that all plants pulled up were on private property. Plots
uprooted include 16 plants from one location and 10 from another in
Eden Roc subdivision, while seven plants were removed from private
property in Kalapana Black Sands subdivision. A West Hawaii pull on
Aug. 19 netted 15 plants from private property in Honomalino.

No arrests were made.

"The ordinance doesn't say it's illegal; it just says it's the lowest
priority," Sherlock said. "If (officers) drop into a patch and it
happens to be (24 or fewer) plants, we can't just get out. We can't
walk away from it, unless it's medical. And on that chance, on every
mission, we have a direct line to state narcotics enforcement. We call
them to verify if there's a medical marijuana permit. And on every
mission, we do run into that, where people have medical marijuana
permits. And when that happens, we do verify it and we do walk away."

Daniel Wolf Braun, president of the Peaceful Sky Alliance, sent a
letter to the council Sept. 9, protesting the use "leftover money that
was secured prior to ... the 'lowest priority' initiative" for
eradication. He stated that police department time and resources for
eradication "appear unaccounted for or inappropriately directed."
Police have said that money for the most recent missions was from the
Big Island's $159,000 portion of a federal grant to the state for
eradication that was budgeted in the fiscal year that ended June 30.

The Tribune-Herald has asked Kubojiri, the mayor's office and Council
Chairman J Yoshimoto about "rolling over" funds from the previous
fiscal year.

Assistant Police Chief Marshall Kanehailua said Friday that police are
in discussions with county Corporation Counsel Lincoln Ashida on a
number of issues related to marijuana eradication, and an answer is
forthcoming.

"There are some other issues raised regarding the Peaceful Sky
Initiative that we're trying to answer, and in answering (those
issues) it will answer your question," Kanehailua said. He said that
in addition to money, those issues include help by other police
departments in eradication efforts. In a Sept. 4 letter, the Peaceful
Sky Alliance protested the participation of other counties' police and
the National Guard in helicopter surveillance and marijuana
eradication on the Big Island.

Kanehailua said police are also using money from the DEA's Domestic
Cannabis Eradication and Suppression Program. The DEA program gave the
state Department of Land and Natural Resources $475,000 this year.

A Thursday call to the Peaceful Sky Alliance was not returned, but a
voice message on the marijuana advocacy group's phone said: "Peaceful
Sky Alliance is currently filing complaints regarding the continuing
nuisance of police helicopter over-flights."

County Prosecutor Jay Kimura has said as recently as May that he
considers the Peaceful Sky ordinance problematic, and that he is
awaiting an opinion from state Attorney General Mark Bennett on the
law's validity. A call to Kimura's office Wednesday to ask if he has
received that opinion was not returned.