THERE'S A BIGGER GROUP OF ICE EPIDEMIC VICTIMS

"Ice: Hawai'i's Crystal Meth Epidemic" did a good job of covering the effects
on addicts and their families.

However, it did not do a good job of depicting the effects on the bigger group
of ice victims in our state. These are the many citizens who have had their
cars stolen or broken into, homes or businesses burglarized, property otherwise
stolen, checks fraudulently used, credit cards stolen and used, and identities
stolen.

A missing angle of the problem for regular folks would have been to ask the
recovering addicts the type and number of property crimes they had committed.
Most regular folks have little clue why their car is stolen, house burglarized,
etc. This dynamic needs to be better depicted in a future episode.

Remember, too, that ice users voluntarily tried ice the first time. It's
ludicrous for this problem to be labeled a "disease." This dishonors innocent
victims of cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, etc. We need to stop
sugar-coating the problem with an innocent label. Call it an "addiction" like
it is and let us devote the resources to fixing the problem at all of its
levels.

T. Merrill

Wahiawa