STUDIES EXAMINE 'ICE' IN ISLANDS

HONOLULU -- At least three federally funded studies that track the effects
of and possible treatments for crystal methamphetamine use -- including one
that studies the effects of the drug known as ''ice'' on babies born to
addicted mothers -- are under way in the islands.

The studies may provide the first reliable data on the effects of widespread
ice use in a state where the drug has existed for at least two decades, say
the principal investigators for the research being wholly or partly
conducted in Hawaii.

Some of the studies' results may be ready for release by September, when Lt.
Gov. James ''Duke'' Aiona plans to hold a drug summit focusing on how to
deal with the state's ice epidemic.

''We are the epicenter of the methamphetamine use in this country,'' said
Barry Carlton, the chief of psychiatry at The Queens Medical Center and the
co-principal investigator of a study examining the effectiveness of
medications that claim to curtail cravings for the highly addictive drug.

''For the price of a movie, a kid can be high all weekend,'' Carlton said.
''It is doing terrible things to our population and our work force.''

That's why researchers say they're conducting the studies, which may provide
a starting line from which the state could begin to create more effective
programs for ice users and their families.

The studies are funded in part by the National Institute for Drug Abuse, a
federal organization within the National Institutes of Health. Two of the
studies are affiliated with the University of California at Los Angeles.

Dr. Chris Derauf, a pediatrician at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and
Children, is helping to conduct the remaining study -- under the direction
of researchers at Brown University -- that aims to look at the effects of
ice on addicted mothers and their babies.

Each year, 2 percent to 3 percent of the nearly 20,000 babies in Hawaii are
born to mothers who used ice during their pregnancies, he said. That equates
to about 400 babies in the state who have potential developmental defects
and behavioral problems related to the drug.

There are also study participants in California, Iowa and Oklahoma.

DeRauf said that, though the ice problem in Hawaii is ''a major issue'' in
the state, the epidemic doesn't seem to be growing as much as in years past.

''Hawaii has for probably at least 20 years been recognized as being a
hotbed for crystal meth,'' he said.

But only recently has there been increased public recognition of the drug
that's associated with ''violence in the home and adverse parenting,'' he
said.

Talk about fixing the drug problem reached new levels last month, when Aiona
released his plans to hold a drug summit for more than 200 local, state and
federal officials. Legislators also announced plans to form a House-Senate
joint committee to address the ice problem.

Alice Dickow, former director of the Women's Addiction Treatment Center at
St. Francis Medical Center, helped conduct a nationwide study on the
effectiveness of different treatments on ice addicts.

The study, the first of its kind in the nation, started in 1999 at the
treatment center and at seven sites on the Mainland, she said.

Dickow's study is expected to be published later this year. But she said her
preliminary research showed that ice in Hawaii -- unlike in other areas of
the country -- is not only a party drug popular among youth but a stimulant
habitually taken by both the state's youth and adults.

The findings mean lawmakers and state health officials will have to employ
tactics different than those in place elsewhere to fight the drug's spread,
she said.

Alleviating the ice problem could be even more difficult given the high
relapse incidence of the drug, she said.

''We do know that addiction is a chronic disease,'' she said. ''People often
relapse,'' and a fair number of the participants in her study ''are not
doing well.''