ACT 161 DRUG LAW CALLED IN QUESTION

WAILUKU -- A judge and Maui County's prosecutor questioned the effectiveness
of the state's Act 161 Wednesday evening, and said funds would be better
spent going straight to the Maui Drug Court.

Second Circuit Judge Shackley Raffetto told members of the Joint
House-Senate Task Force on Ice and Drug Abatement that the Maui Drug Court
had a lower recidivism rate, at 24 percent, than the Act 161 program, and
that it should receive more funding from the state.

"If you want to affect recidivism with a minimum amount of money in a short
period of time, this is the way to do it," he said.

The legislative task force held a hearing in the Council Chambers of the
Kalana O Maui building Wednesday as part of a series of sessions around the
state to get input on the effectiveness of state laws on drug abuse.

Raffetto noted that the Maui Drug Court, which offers nonviolent offenders
of drug-related crimes a choice between prison and successful completion of
an intensive treatment program, is heavily supported by county and federal
funds.

"County support and federal support tends to be transitional," he said.
"These programs need to be institutionalized so they receive reliable
support from the Legislature."

He said there are about 750 felonies committed in Maui County each year.

"In my view, about 80 percent of them are related to ice or other drugs," he
said. "People who break into your car, they're not doing that to pay their
mortgage. They're doing that to support an ice habit."

County Prosecutor Davelynn Tengan said Act 161, a state law set up last year
to mandate treatment for nonviolent offenders, is not as effective and
doesn't provide as much support to prosecutors as does the Maui Drug Court.

Under Act 161, people convicted of nonviolent, drug-related crimes are
ordered to undergo treatment and allowed to go on probation rather than
being sent to prison.

But while the law orders offenders to receive treatment, the state does not
provide adequate funds to support that treatment, and many of the offenders
are placed on waiting lists, neither receiving help nor being removed from
society, she said.

"They're not beating the addiction," she said, and offenders continue to
commit crimes while on probation.

Speakers before the task force said the state should do more to relieve the
county of the burden of paying for expensive medical treatment for drug and
alcohol abusers.

"The county can't really afford to pay for a lot of the services we're
providing now," said Housing and Human Concerns Director Alice Lee.

In addition to paying a substantial amount of the bill for the Maui Drug
Court's basic programs, the county is fully supporting a Drug Court program
for incarcerated men and a similar program for women to be launched next
month.

In addition, the county is creating a Drug Court program for juveniles.

"At some point, we're really going to need your help in supporting that Drug
Court," Lee told legislators.

She said that with experts recognizing drug and alcohol addiction as a
chronic disease, a wider variety of programs should be available for
addicts, similar to the variety of treatments available to someone coping
with cancer or any other long-term illness.

"Our belief is one size doesn't fit all," she said.

Some suggested "creative," cost-free ideas to lawmakers but stressed that
money was the biggest need for programs dealing with drug abuse.

"Just moving money around and implementing budget-neutral recommendations
will not do the job," said Jud Cunningham, administrator of Aloha House and
Malama Family Recovery Center.

He said plenty of "lip service" had been paid to integrating families into
substance abuse treatment, but funds had not been provided for family-based
treatment programs.

"We need to treat the whole family, not just the deviant member," he said.

Gail Gnazzo of Maui Youth and Family Services said rural areas of Hawaii are
generally underfunded, in spite of the fact that they lead the state in teen
substance abuse. She said there was a "misconception about rural areas being
safe and a good place to raise your kids."

She added that the number of funded beds for inpatient treatment for
children and teens was far below what has been needed.

"My humble opinion is the State of Hawaii is using a thimble to bail out our
ice boat," she said.

Since June, the House-Senate task force has met to investigate and discuss
ideas for fighting "ice" and other forms of drug addiction in Hawaii.

Drug abuse is also the focus of a series of town-hall "talk story" sessions
being held around the state by Gov. Linda Lingle and Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona.
Lingle will conduct a forum on Maui at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Royal Lahaina
Resort.