DON'T LEAP BLINDLY INTO ICE-ABUSE FIXES

Thank you for advancing the agenda on the "ice" crisis in the state
while clarifying the facts before us ("'Ice' usage overstated," Aug.
5). Nothing is accomplished by belaboring the obvious beyond a certain
point. I am certain that no malicious intent lay behind the releasing
of the data mentioned in the story -- there simply are no timely,
reliable data available.

While we need the data, the gravity of the situation does not afford
us the luxury of time to complete the surveys. Clearly we have a
problem -- now let's roll up our sleeves and try to deal with it.

The suggestions of increased police powers may in fact be good ones.
However, I believe that to adopt these proposed measures without
careful investigation of their successes elsewhere and without a clear
understanding of their possible consequences sounds like another
knee-jerk reaction to what appears to be a situation out of control.

As an example, I am certain that the merits of the "walk and talk"
proposal are high, but what do we do if in the process arrests are
made? We have no jail space, we have inmates scattered over the
western half of the United States already -- where do we put the
persons caught?

Random drug testing has been used as both a monitoring and an
interdiction program in many places and, frankly, no one likes them.
To impose this on Hawaii's school children at a time when the data
from our own Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division show a reduction in ice
use in the schools sends a mixed message.

We might better consider the programs in the schools that appear to
have been responsible for those positive changes and put resources
into them, rather than identifying again a number of persons for whom
there are no treatment alternatives.

There should be no doubt that we must act -- we should have done so a
decade ago! But we must do so with care and a serious concern for the
rights and welfare of our citizens as well as a clear sense that money
is tight and the consequences of inappropriate allocation of funds
could be devastating for all.

I believe that we have the talent, the dedication and the skill to
turn this around. But we need to spend much more time looking for
fact-based solutions that work and less time debating the number of
ice addicts that can dance on the head of a pin, or grasping at
ready-made solutions from other areas that have not yet demonstrated
their efficacy or their long-term effects on the communities.

D. WILLIAM WOOD

Professor

University of Hawaii-Manoa