COUNTY COUNCIL GRILLS POLICE ON MARIJUANA

Law Enforcement Accused Of Ignoring Will Of Voters

A county meeting on the voter initiative that made marijuana
possession by adults for personal use the lowest law enforcement
priority was marked by a series of verbal pot shots.

Patience and tempers were thin at the outset, as the County Council
committee meeting Tuesday night started more than 21/2 hours later
than scheduled.

Last November, almost 58 percent of the isle's voters approved the
"Peaceful Sky" law, which applies to adults on private property with
24 or fewer plants or its dried equivalent. Every private citizen who
testified Tuesday urged police to stop eradicating marijuana.

"I would think that a voter initiative would carry more weight than a
legislative initiative," said Blake Watson, who is awaiting trial on
marijuana growing charges. " ... All they have to do to follow this
law is to stop doing what they're doing."

Big Island police have flown three eradication missions this year, in
late June, mid-August and mid-September.

"There was an expectation when this law was passed, and from the
testimony that we're hearing, that expectation is not being met. And
we've got to come to grips with that," said Hamakua Councilman Dominic
Yagong, chairman of the Committee on Public Safety and Parks and Recreation.

"We are trying to comply with this ordinance," Police Chief Harry
Kubojiri testified. "That is why on every eradication mission, we have
our vice commander (Lt. Richard Sherlock) read this ordinance to every
participating person, and we try to inform everyone what the
parameters of this ordinance is until we get clarification from the
(state) attorney general's office."

The requested opinion has been pending for months. County Prosecutor
Jay Kimura reiterated his position that state and federal marijuana
laws take precedence over the county ordinance.

"I would say that the ordinance itself has no effect on the state
law," he said.

Kubojiri, Ferreira, Kimura and Deputy Corporation Counsel Brandon
Gonzalez all stated they were sworn to uphold all state and federal
laws. Gonzalez said backing off marijuana enforcement would be a
"dereliction" of their oath.

Asked by Yagong if adults caught possessing marijuana below the
county's legal limit are still prosecuted under state law on the Big
Island, Kimura answered, "Yes."

The initiative directs the council to reject grants or funding
earmarked for eradication. Deputy Police Chief Paul Ferreira said
money for the latest aerial raids was supplied by two federal grants
accepted before the law was passed. Yagong asked Ferreira how much
eradication money remains.

"Sorry, I don't have the exact amounts, but the Statewide Marijuana
Eradication grant was $53,000 and the Domestic Cannabis
Eradication/Suppression Program funds was $280,000," Ferreira said.
"In last year's budget, the Statewide Marijuana Eradication grant was
$159,000 before the budget decrease, and the line item for the
Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program was $370,000. All we
got from that grant was $280,000." He said the legal active period for
both grants overlaps the county's past and current fiscal years.

Kona Councilman Kelly Greenwell said he ran for office to address the
marijuana issue "both legally and morally."

"To say that marijuana is dangerous is about as foolish a statement as
I could possibly imagine," Greenwell said. "To say that it is harmful
is likewise foolish. The reason marijuana is illegal is that it would
put the drug industry out of business if it were legal."

Greenwell said he's drafting "a resolution that would decriminalize
marijuana."

"It's time the police department, quite frankly, get involved in some
of the issues that are going on here," he said. "The number of rapes,
the number of lost children, the amount of horror that goes on in the
dark corners of this island need to be looked at. Chasing somebody
who's smoking a goddamn cigarette made of marijuana is insane."

Ka'u Councilman Guy Enriques, who requested the discussion, apologized
to the county's top cops and lawyers for having to "defend
yourselves."

"That was not my intention at all," he said. "My intention was that
you would enlighten us on your perspective of things. ... Mr.
Greenwell, ... these guys are from the executive branch of the law and
we're from the legislative branch. If you want to change the law,
we're the ones who are going to have to do it."

Several, including Pualani Lindsey, noted the forced landing of a
helicopter near her Pohoiki Road home on Oct. 2. Lindsey said the
helicopter "flew so low that I could see the faces of the personnel in
the cockpit." She said she complained to the Federal Aviation
Administration and "was informed that under the law, if there was a
tip or a suspicion of criminal activity that helicopters can fly low
and are able to land on the property."

"Who gives these strangers the right to enter my property and peek
into my windows?" she queried. "Am I dealing with a voyeur?"

Judith Mura testified the mechanic who worked on the downed chopper
told her it was chartered by the federal Drug Enforcement
Administration, and that he later backed off and said Paradise
Helicopters were flying "on their own."

Kubojiri said the copter was on a tour and not a police mission. Under
questioning, he testified the DEA flies its own missions and receives
"ground support" from local police, and the state Department of Land
and Natural Resources flies missions, as well. The DLNR received a
$475,000 DEA eradication grant in February.