'NOT EVEN ONCE'

Meth messes up your life, wrecks your family, damages communities and
hurts the economy. No high is worth such a devastating aftermath.

This is not news, but the lack of progress in combating this highly
addictive drug remains startling.

Only on one front - prevention - does there seem to be a steady march
in the right direction.

The 2010 Hawai'i Meth Use & Attitudes Survey shows that teens and
young adults are more willing to talk about the problem and less
likely to try meth even once. The recent report also reveals that
youth are now more likely to discourage friends and family members
from trying or continuing to use the drug.

This is a positive step - as long as changes in behavior follow the
shift in attitudes as expected. We should continue to invest in the
Hawai'i Meth Project.

While we certainly recognize and applaud all the work that has been
done to date in ridding our island of this deadly drug, we still need
to step up our efforts in the realms of treatment and enforcement.

The county is dragging its feet in siting a youth treatment facility
on Kaua'i and the judicial system is handing out light sentences to
those who are arrested for buying, selling or using "ice."

Having to send our young addicts to get help on O'ahu or elsewhere
off island only prolongs the recovery time and imposes further
hardships on families.

Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr.'s administration must pick a place for an
adolescent treatment center here soon and the NIMBY crowd should bite
its tongue. Together, we can help our fellow Kauaians return to
healthy lifestyles.

While the timing is suspect, we must give credit to the mayor for at
least setting a timetable for an adolescent treatment center on
Kaua'i. Carvalho has said that the facility will be sited by December
2010 - a month after he will likely be reelected to serve as mayor -
and that it will be operational in three years.

The public must do its part by holding him to his word.

In the meantime, judges need to get a firmer grip on the gavel. Last
month, Judge Randal Valenciano sentenced Robby Silva to just one year
behind bars for meth trafficking, family abuse and zoning violations.
This is a slap on the wrist of a serious offender.

How does such an insufficient punishment for such a serious crime
serve as a deterrent? We believe in second chances, but the
consequences must fit the offense.

The public should help curb this problem by putting pressure on
elected officials and preaching the Meth Project's "Not Even Once"
message to children, friends and family members alike.

Meth addiction is a serious problem that needs immediate action.

Every day our community leaders let this issue sit idle is another
day of heartache for a mother, father, brother, sister, aunty and uncle.

Every lenient sentence is another tacit message saying "It's really
not that bad."

Too many Kaua'i children and adults are in meth's death grip. We can
do better. We must do better. Let's not waste another minute.