'ICE' BOILS WAIANAE

About 1,000 Residents Gather To Condemn The Devastating Drug

Nanakuli resident Gertrude Apio points to a simple watch on her wrist and
explains how all the other jewelry that her husband bought for her had been
stolen by her grandson who needed money to buy crystal methamphetamine.

"I had to put my grandson in jail for stealing," Apio said as she sat
holding her great-grandchild outside the multipurpose room at Waianae
District Park, where a meeting and rally against the drug "ice" was held
last night.

"I know what it's all about. It happened in my family," she said. "It breaks
your heart when you raise them and they steal from you."

Apio was among the overflow crowd of roughly 1,000 Waianae Coast residents
interested in ridding their community of the drug.

"It's good people try to get together and get rid of all this drug," Apio
said.

Speakers told lawmakers, educators and law enforcement officials about how
ice has broken up families. There were also stories about addiction and
recovery.

"I'm sick and tired of the Waianae Coast being used as a drugstore," one
speaker said to loud applause.

Before the meeting, residents lined Farrington Highway from Nanakuli to
Makaha, holding signs saying "Buy rice, not ice," "Ice destroys families"
and "Ice, ice not nice."

City Councilman Mike Gabbard, who helped organize the meeting, told the
community that "our tropical paradise is being covered by the deadly glacier
of ice."

"We must all join hands ... in order to beat this," Gabbard continued.

Before the meeting, Gabbard said bringing the community together is just a
first step.

He said he hopes the meeting will lead to an effort to lobby lawmakers for
solutions like stiffer penalties.

He also said bringing churches, businesses and schools together may lead to
after-school programs and other activities to keep children busy and away
from drugs.

U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo, who attended the meeting, said community rallies and
meetings send a message to drug users and "empowers the community."

Kubo said "the proof is in the pudding," noting that crime went down after a
similar meeting in Kahaluu.