ZERO TOLERANCE NEEDED TO COMBAT USE OF ILLEGAL DRUGS

The Maui News June 14 editorial on crystal methamphetamine ("ice") said that
"lawmakers hope to come up with a new chapter in the state laws that will
focus on the ice problem. And that is exactly what doesn't work."

I've known a number of people who have been arrested, convicted and did time
for illegal drugs. They aren't involved with drugs anymore; they decided
jail is too steep a price to pay.

The editorial said that "the only solutions to illegal drugs such as "ice"
are to cut off supply . . and provide rehabilitation for those already
caught in the drug's web." This omits crucial strategies based on prevention
and education.

A high percentage of "ice" defendants are ignorant of the strict sentences
for "ice" use and dealing. The editorial contends that the enemy in the
"ice" battle is the supplier, not the individual user or street seller. What
is needed is zero tolerance across the board -- for users, sellers and
suppliers.

In the same issue as the "ice" editorial was a story on the sentencing of a
young man who was responsible for a car crash that killed a 17-year-old Maui
girl. He had high levels of two of Hawaii's favorite drugs in his blood --
"ice" and pot. Try telling the family of the dead girl that we, as a
society, can tolerate "individual users" of illegal drugs.

Jerome Kellner

Makawao