AIONA WANTS DRUG COURT REFERRALS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING ARRESTS

HONOLULU -- Lt. Gov. James ''Duke'' Aiona wants people arrested for
drug-related crimes put immediately and involuntarily into the Drug Court
process, despite constitutional holdings that a person is innocent until
proved guilty.

The tough proposal from the former Circuit Court judge came Thursday as he
outlined the goals for the Lingle administration's three-day summit in
mid-September to develop a strategy to combat illegal drug use and underage
use of alcohol.

The Drug Court program now involves people who have admitted to their
crimes, Aiona said at a news conference in the governor's office.

''What I would like to do is have it move up one more step, in other words,
not waiting until someone enters a plea'' or is about to be tried, he said.

If someone is pulled over for a traffic offense and police find drug
paraphernalia in the car, that person is arrested, but likely will be
released pending investigation, indictment and the setting of a trial date
which can take nine or 10 months, said Aiona, who set up Hawaii's Drug Court
program making strict adherence to a drug treatment program an alternative
to incarceration.

''The Drug Court program doesn't kick in until that point,'' he said. ''What
I want to do is get it up front, in other words, make it mandatory so that
as soon as they are arrested we get the Drug Court involved.

''That's something that is not being done right now. That's something that
is not being done around the country,'' Aiona said.

Asked about the constitutionality of his proposal, Aiona said: ''I guess it
depends on how it's developed and how it's planned.''

Defense attorney Earle Partington said Aiona's plan sounds like a good one,
''but it has to have an opt out for those who want to contest their case.

''The present system is you have to opt in. I would take the view the more
people we get into the Drug Court program, the better,'' Partington said.

Partington questioned whether state lawmakers are willing to provide the
funding needed for drug treatment programs instead of using those funds to
build more prisons.

There needs to be a differentiation between the drug ring organizers and
big-time sellers and the typical drug addict who is selling in order to get
more drugs, he said.

Aiona said in his preliminary discussions with public defenders, prosecutors
and judges the constitutional concerns were raised, ''but bear in mind that
when we started the Drug Court program, we had to bring all these players
together and there was a lot of give and take in regards to constitutional
rights.''

Aiona said the steering committee to set up the Sept. 15-17 drug summit at
the Sheraton Waikiki drafted a working paper that provides a starting point
and sets goals for the summit, titled ''Hawaii Drug Control Strategy: A New
Beginning.''

He thinks it could serve as a model for the nation, if not the world.

''It's a life-giving document, so to speak. It's a document that's going to
address the problems hopefully for an eternity,'' Aiona said. ''We can't do
what we've been doing in the past to be reactive instead of proactive.''

The goals of the summit, in which more than 300 people are expected to
participate, are to stop illegal drug use and underage drinking before they
start, treat drug and alcohol abusers and crack down on drug pushers.

''Our objective is to reduce illegal drug use in Hawaii by more than 10
percent over three years,'' Aiona said.

While the joint House-Senate committee looking at ways to address the
crystal methamphetamine, or ''ice,'' epidemic in Hawaii is good, the
administration's approach is much broader, he said.

''This whole summit is global, it's holistic, it's looking at everything and
that's what we need to look at,'' Aiona said.

On the Net: Hawaii Drug Control Strategy: A New Beginning:
http://www.hawaii.gov/ltgov/drugssummit