AIONA FACES TOUGH CROWD

State Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona outlined the state's proposed drug -
control strategies and heard an earful from Big Island residents Tuesday at
Hilo High School.

At least a couple of hundred people crowded into the school's hot, muggy
cafeteria for the meeting, one of 27 "talk story" sessions being held
throughout the state as a prelude to the state's drug control strategy
"summit" Sept. 15 - 17 in Waikiki.

Although the proposed drug - control strategies take aim at all illicit
drugs and underage drinking, Tuesday's session focused on the abuse of
crystal methamphetamine, or ice, "the most significant drug threat in
Hawaii," Aiona said.

The current controversy over the number of ice users in the state was
brushed aside by Aiona. Dispute over the source of a U.S. Attorney's report
that 30,000 people are "hard - core" users of ice and that another 90,000
people use the drug "recreationally" in Hawaii is not important, Aiona said.
"The numbers have no relevance to the problem itself," he said before
Tuesday night's meeting. "The bottom line is we have a problem."

No one disputed the problem at Tuesday's meeting. But listing marijuana as
the second most significant threat in Hawaii, ahead of cocaine and
psychedelic drugs, including Ecstasy, drew criticism.

"We have an ice problem, not a marijuana problem," said Greg Smith of Pahoa,
an admitted former drug dealer, user and smuggler, who now is trying to
bring an anti - drug "Weed and Seed" program to Pahoa.

"I have never seen a man go berserk or die using pot," said Smith. "It's the
worst lie perpetuated on our people."

Retired Honolulu police officer Manny Mattos said psychedelic drugs are much
worse than marijuana. "You can't overdose on marijuana," said Mattos, who
estimated that at least one in 10 people are using ice, that it would cost
at least $100 million for treatment programs, and that the problem is
getting worse.

Hawaii County Councilman Fred Holschuh, a physician and former Hilo Medical
Center emergency room doctor, said marijuana is "not the same drug" as ice.
"The level of violence with ice is just horrible," he said.

But Holschuh said there must be economic recovery to deal with the overall
drug problem. "The economic indicators here on the Big Island are terrible.
We can't have (drug) recovery if people don't have a job."

Longtime marijuana advocate Jonathan Adler proposed a marijuana - based
medical treatment program for ice users, and said the drug strategy Aiona
outlined "doesn't take into account the legal (medical) use of marijuana."

Hawaii County Deputy Prosecutor Mitch Roth said a chronic shortage of police
officers and police drug labs to deal with the ice problem has led to the
community perception that the police are corrupt.

East Hawaii has eight vice officers and a three - person drug lab that's a
year behind in analyzing drugs taken in busts in an area five or six times
as large as Honolulu, which has more than 100 vice officers, Roth said.

The delay in drug lab analysis means prosecutors release suspects pending
investigation and "the community sees them right back out on the street
again," he said. "The community says ... the whole system's corrupt."

West Hawaii has no lab equipment at all, Roth said. "We need more lab
equipment and officers. There are so many things we need here."

Aiona said he's heard the same complaint from communities on Oahu, but Roth,
a former Honolulu deputy prosecutor, said too often decisions on funding are
made based on what happens in the "state of Honolulu," not what happens on
the Big Island.

The goals of the drug - control strategy summit are to improve prevention,
treatment and interdiction, and to reduce the amount of illicit drugs and
underage drinking, Aiona said at the outset.

Aiona said one benchmark of the drug strategy is to reduce illicit drugs by
10 percent, while some in the audience wondered how the benchmark could be
reached given the dispute over the numbers.

Law enforcement aspects of the strategy include enacting legislation to
curtail the sales of "precursor" chemicals, or those used to manufacture
crystal methamphetamine. The strategy also would mandate "decisive"
consequences for drug users and "severe" consequences for drug dealers.

Aiona said the strategy for reducing underage drinking would need to "enlist
the community in the fight." He cited high school graduation parties at
which teens drink with adult relatives in what he said were "like rites of
passage."

Aiona responded rhetorically to one speaker who encouraged the state to
require a half - credit of drug abuse education in high school. "Why don't
we have comprehensive drug and substance education for students in third
grade on up?" Aiona said.

"We're not here to give solutions, silver bullets or a quick fix," said
Aiona. "We'll take your input back to the summit and we can deal with it
accordingly."

The information will be compiled on a Web site: www.hawaii.gov/ltgov .