TOBACCO, MARIJUANA PRECURSORS TO ICE USE

A well-known Maui substance-abuse professional I spoke to recently agreed
with all of the following: Two drugs in Hawai'i are driving, integral forces
in the crystal methamphetamine (ice) epidemic here -- tobacco and marijuana.

Island kids are exposed to tobacco smoking by smokers in extended island
families, and by the one in five people in Hawai'i who smoke cigarettes. The
overwhelming message to Hawai'i kids from the time they can talk is that it
is perfectly OK to inhale smoke into your lungs, including smoke that is
highly addictive and carcinogenic.

Marijuana use plugs perfectly into this model, except pot gives smokers a
high, which, to those looking to get high, makes it even better to smoke
than tobacco. That marijuana is illegal is of no concern to most island
youths because Hawai'i's true-believer pot-heads have taught them that if
you don't agree with a drug law, it is OK to break it.

It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out what is likely to happen
when those who have been exposed to such upbringings and behaviors are
introduced to the idea of smoking ice or crack cocaine or black tar heroin.
A certain percentage of youths will go for a hit in a heartbeat, and crystal
meth just that quickly addicts many who try it.

If any meaningful change is to come out of the House and Senate joint
committee now addressing Hawai'i's ice addiction epidemic, the committee
must recognize these truths. The use of tobacco and marijuana powerfully
predisposes individuals to using ice and getting addicted to it. Tobacco and
marijuana are without question part and parcel of Hawai'i's overall ice
epidemic.

Jerome Kellner

Makawao, Mau