METH SURVEY DATA HAS CHANGED SINCE 2007

In response to your March 26 editorial, "Keep teens from drugs," I
wanted to respond to the statement "Amid a television campaign
against methamphetamine, the Hawaii Youth Risk Behavior Survey found
that 4 percent had used meth in their lifetimes, the same as in the
2007 survey."

The Hawaii Meth Project and its ad campaign were launched on June 5,
2009, after the survey was taken. Last spring, we implemented the
2009 Hawaii Meth Use & Attitudes Survey, which found alarming
statistics among teens:

19 percent say meth is easy to acquire.

11 percent report having a close friend who uses meth.

30 percent say there is little or no risk to taking meth once or twice.

Meth use in Hawaii continues to be a significant problem, with
devastating results to our families and at a very high cost to
taxpayers due to associated incarceration and employer, foster care,
treatment and health care costs. Meth use is estimated to cost our
state $500 million annually.

We are in the process of conducting our 2010 survey, with results to
be published this summer. We are hopeful our efforts of outreach and
education, combined with those of other organizations focused on
prevention and treatment, can significantly reduce meth use in our state.

Cindy Adams, Executive director, The Hawaii Meth Project