ISLE ICE EPIDEMIC NOTHING NEW TO POLICE

In 8th Year Of Battle Against Drug, Treatment Programs Still Lag Behind

WAILUKU -- As the community battle against crystal methamphetamine in Maui
County nears its eighth year, those who work with "ice" users are finding more
and different needs for treatment.

"There's not enough resources to serve all the people who are asking," said Jud
Cunningham, executive director of Aloha House and Malama Family Recovery
Center, which offer treatment and prevention programs on Maui. "You've got a
continuously new crop of enrollees. People are starting younger with ice,
generally."

With room for 32 residential clients at its Central Maui facility, as well as
programs in the schools and community, Aloha House has seen methamphetamine
replace alcohol as the drug most often abused by those admitted into treatment.

"In the last two years, the amphetamine use has risen to be the number one
reported drug of choice," said Ed Yewell, clinical director of Aloha House. He
said more than 40 percent of those admitted report using "ice," followed by
about 40 percent who abuse alcohol. More women are also seeking treatment,
raising concerns about children's exposure to "ice," Yewell said.

Programs are having to adjust after seeing some "ice" addicts who also have
been diagnosed with mental diseases, as well as generations of families
affected by the highly addictive drug, said Christina Fisher, coordinator of
substance abuse programs for Maui County.

"Long-term use of crystal methamphetamine is turning the substance abuser into
a mental-health patient," she said. "They are smoking so much crystal
methamphetamine that they're causing brain damage. Then it becomes an issue
that they need psychiatric services.

"We're now identifying where the gap areas are."

Fisher is chairwoman of the Icebreakers task force that includes law
enforcement officers, judges, treatment providers and others who meet regularly
to discuss ways to address the "ice" epidemic. The group formed in 1996, the
year after the first "ice" conference on Maui.

While legislative hearings and a state drug summit that begins Monday have
focused statewide attention on "ice," Fisher and others say the problems
associated with the drug have been acknowledged by Maui County officials for
years.

"The things they are saying about 'ice' are no different than in 1989 and
1990," when the drug first surfaced in Maui County, said Police Chief Tom
Phillips. "How bad it is, how addictive and how harmful -- law enforcement's
been saying this for a decade.

"We have known for years that this is a huge problem. I think other people
didn't really know how terrible this drug is until now."

During the first six months of this year, most of the 318 arrests for drug
sales and possession in Maui County involved methamphetamine, according to Maui
Police Department statistics. There were 162 arrests for methamphetamine sales
and possession, followed by 141 arrests for marijuana sales and possession.

But police documented more incidents involving marijuana than methamphetamine
during the same period, with 358 marijuana sales and possession incidents,
compared with 295 for methamphetamine. In all, police reported 691 drug
incidents through June this year.

Most of the drug incidents were reported in Wailuku with 185, followed by
Kahului with 122 and Kihei with 111 incidents and the largest number of arrests
- -- 67. In Lahaina, there were 65 arrests and 107 incidents.

"Right now, 'ice' probably is the drug of choice among the illegal drugs,"
Phillips said. "We make more marijuana cases. We still have a problem with
cocaine and the other drugs.

"Substance abuse, whether it's alcohol or drugs, is at the root of most of our
crime, not just 'ice.' "

Police statistics show the number of drug offenses in the county have generally
risen since 1994 when 826 offenses were documented. Last year, 1,487 drug
offenses were documented for a nearly 21 percent increase over the 1,232
offenses in 2001. After climbing from 88 in 1994 to 113 in 1997, the number of
robberies was down to 73 last year.

While some people believe state prisons are filled with drug users, Phillips
said most of those jailed for drug crimes are dealers.

"We want to put away as many drug dealers as we can, the people bringing it
here, the people selling it here because they are doing it for profit,"
Phillips said. "Most of the time their motivation is money. They are not going
to stop by putting them in a treatment program."

He said the effort to imprison drug dealers has been helped by a task force of
federal, state and county law enforcement agencies that have shared information
and worked together to dismantle some large drug distribution rings. One drug
trafficking enterprise, targeted in "Operation Awaroot" last year, had roots on
Maui and also spread to Oahu, the Mainland and New Zealand.

Phillips said police also run prevention programs, such as Drug Abuse
Resistance Education in the schools, and support the Maui Drug Court, which
offers treatment as an alternative to incarceration for some nonviolent
offenders.

Eighty-two people are currently enrolled in the Drug Court, which has had 85
graduates since it began three years ago, said Barbara-Ann Keller, Drug Court
administrator.

After making regular court appearances and successfully completing the minimum
15-month program, graduates can have criminal charges dismissed and terms of
probation ended early.

Of those who graduated, four have been convicted of other criminal charges for
a recidivism conviction rate of 4.7 percent, she said.

"The vast majority do not reoffend," said Deputy Prosecutor Mark Simonds, who
represents the Prosecutor's Office in Drug Court cases. "It's a
crime-prevention program. We're trying to target the nonviolent offenders who
keep victimizing the community, and change behavior.

"They're becoming productive members of the community. They're working jobs and
taking care of their families. We're definitely making progress here."

Of the 228 people admitted into the Drug Court since it started, 69 percent
reported that amphetamine was the main drug they abused, Keller said. "Over the
last three years, we know that the 'ice' rate is increasing," she said.

Some male participants have begun their treatment in a special Drug Court
dormitory at the Maui Community Correctional Center. A similar dormitory for
female inmates is being planned, with the county agreeing to pay for the drug
treatment, Keller said. She said a Family Drug Court for Maui is in the
planning stages to focus on juveniles and Child Welfare Services and
domestic-violence cases.

Since the mid-1990s, Maui County's mayor and Council have supported funding for
substance abuse programs, with $500,000 allocated this fiscal year, Fisher
said.

Cunningham said both Malama Family Recovery Center, which provides drug
treatment and other services for women who are pregnant or have recently given
birth, and Aloha House have had county grants reduced this year, losing a
combined total of nearly $70,000 from the $100,000 grants each agency received
last year.

"The demand for treatment has increased. The cost for treatment has increased,"
Yewell said. "The funding for treatment has decreased.

"Substance abuse treatment's changed drastically over the last three to five
years. More than ever, treatment has to be individualized, connected to the
community."

"Ice" addicts require longer periods for detoxification than other drug
abusers, Yewell said, and also need to be in treatment longer.

"We're starting to learn how to treat 'ice' users a little better," said Armon
Tavares, a certified substance abuse counselor and case manager for residential
programs at Aloha House. "Before, we had no clue. 'Ice' is a completely
different kind of addiction. Time is a big factor."

He said some "ice" users are so impaired that it takes months to re-establish a
routine so they're ready to progress in treatment.

"It's a loss of faculties. It's like rebuilding all over again," said Shari
Franco, an Aloha House residential counselor. "It's going back down to the
sleeping patterns, the eating patterns."

Many are fidgety while going through a routine that includes breakfast at 7:30
a.m. and classes throughout the day and at night, Franco said.

Some also participate in group and individual therapy for people who may have
mental-health issues in addition to needing drug treatment. "The need is
growing every day, especially with the 'ice' problem and ice-induced
psychosis," said Rebekah Root, a counseling intern in the Aloha House
co-dependent disorders program. "Depression is closely linked with drug use."

Jan Roberson, a Maui County social worker for the elderly, said she has seen
clients who have been neglected and even abused by relatives addicted to "ice."

"They also will exploit them financially," she said. "They will use their money
for drugs and not for the clients' food, medicine and personal care that's
needed.

"When one person does drugs, many people are harmed."

Roberson is chairwoman of the county Commission on the Status of Women, which
recently donated $1,000 from a Women's Health Month grant to Malama Family
Recovery Center. In making the donation, she said commission members recognized
that "the potential for a person to recover is best when the treatment is
gender-specific and inpatient, as well as outpatient."

Malama Family Recovery Center and Aloha House work with other agencies to help
connect clients to other services as part of their treatment, Cunningham said.

"It's a safety net for the whole community," he said. "We believe we have had a
lot of successes with people. It is a treatable addiction."

Some of the agencies providing treatment and other services are listed on the
Web site www.mauicares.org