FEDERAL GRANT OFFERS 'RELIEF' TO LANAI DRUG PREVENTION PROGRAM

After losing most of its funding from Maui County this year, Lanai's only drug
prevention program is receiving a $100,000 boost through a federal grant to
help in the fight against the ice epidemic.

The award to the Coalition for a Drug Free Lanai and a similar one to Power of
Choice North Hawaii on the Big Island were announced in Washington Monday as
part of the federal Drug Free Communities Support Program.

"It's such a relief," said Joelle Aoki of Coalition for a Drug Free Lanai after
learning the agency would receive the federal funding. "We're looking toward
being focused on our ongoing programs, which are working."

On Lanai, the money will be used to train teachers to lead drug-free programs,
increase by one-third the number of students enrolled in drug prevention
classes and increase the number of students and volunteers in mentoring
programs, U.S. Rep. Ed Case said in a news release Monday.

He noted that the crystal methamphetamine or ice epidemic is especially acute
in Neighbor Island communities of the 2nd Congressional District that he
represents. Police have said the first ice arrests in Maui County were made on
Lanai in 1990 and 1991, about the time when the coalition was formed.

"This grant is of particular importance to our young people and their families
on Lanai because recent budget cuts have threatened to reduce substantially
services provided by the Coalition for a Drug Free Lanai, which is the only
drug prevention program on the island," Case said. "The grant will boost
Lanai's efforts to combat 'ice' and other substance abuse programs."

He said community members throughout the state have stressed that "community
awareness and funding are vital weapons in the fight against crystal meth."

The nonprofit Coalition for a Drug Free Lanai lost most of its administrative
funding when its Maui County grant was cut from $39,000 last year to $9,750 for
the fiscal year that started in July, Aoki said.

But the agency has managed to survive through a partnership with Alu Like Inc.,
a statewide nonprofit organization providing social services to Native
Hawaiians. After about two years as executive director for the coalition, Aoki
took a job as community resource coordinator for Alu Like on Lanai.

She said Monday that the partnership between Alu Like and the coalition, which
enabled the coalition to apply for the grant, would continue.

After word spread about the coalition's financial troubles, Aoki said she
received many calls and people have offered to help by volunteering.

"I'm so, so glad we got this grant," she said.

The grant to the coalition and another one for $100,000 to the Big Island
program are from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency. The grants were awarded to reduce substance abuse and increase
community awareness of drug problems.

"These grants are important in helping to combat illicit drugs - such as
crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as 'ice' - that lead to social problems
and criminal activity," U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye said in a news release.

As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Inouye has secured
funding to reduce illegal drug use and establish drug treatment programs in the
state.