Mayor Yet To Site Drug Treatment Facility On Kaua'i

OVERCOMING METH ADDICTION

Editor's Note: This Is The Second Article In A Series About
Methamphetamine Use In Hawai'i. The Next Piece, On The Faces Of Meth,
Will Be Published In Tuesday's Edition.

LIHU'E - As if drug addictions alone don't already rip families
apart, the stark reality is that drug-addicted people, especially
young ones, largely have to leave the island for treatment.

With no residential adolescent drug-treatment facility on island,
Kaua'i's youngest addicts often face the harrowing aspect of being
torn from friends and loved ones to travel off-island for treatment.

"Part of the challenge is that there are not a whole lot of
(drug-treatment) facilities" on Kaua'i and across the state, said
Cindy Adams, executive director of the Hawai'i Meth Project.

"It's important all, including teens, have access to services and
help when they think they need the help," said Adams. "They need
services available when they're ready," and the best rehabilitation
regimens have a healthy dose of family involvement.

When a young person has to go off-island to get drug treatment, the
involved, supportive family component often has to be delivered from afar.

"When a child has to go off-island, it makes it hard for parents and
families to participate. Relapse is high," she said, underscoring how
hard it can be to overcome some drug addictions.

Most rehabilitation programs stress the need for strong support
systems, including support services, and family and friends to help
them be strong is "very important," Adams said. "People are always
going to need treatment."

Among Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.'s highest priorities, something he
pledged to do before his first two years in office were over, was to
site an adolescent, residential, drug-treatment facility on the island.

At one time the former Kaua'i Humane Society building near Salt Pond
Beach Park in Hanapepe was a promising locale.

Carvalho did not respond to a request for comment made through Mary
Daubert, county public information officer, about where the siting
plan rests today.

Theresa Koki, the county anti-drug coordinator in Carvalho's office,
said it's still a high-priority item.

"I would be remiss if I didn't mention the county's dire need for a
treatment center, something which our mayor is passionate about
resolving," she said.