'ICE' ANSWERS ARE AVAILABLE

Hawaii's top lawmakers seem unwilling to face the truth of the "ice
epidemic" afflicting island families. Even though they chose to pose Tuesday
in front of a medical facility to announce the formation of a joint
House-Senate committee to study the illegal drug problem, the lawmakers
seemed fixed on the idea that more laws will rid the island of an already
illegal drug.

House Speaker Calvin Say may have been more truthful than he realized when
he said, "We must find new ways to fight the battle against ice," an easily
manufactured, relatively cheap stimulant that gives users equally intense
"highs" and "lows."

Another member of the joint committee, Senate Judiciary Chairwoman Colleen
Hanabusa, said 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. Hawaii's prisons and jails are filled
to overflowing with inmates whose crimes involved the use of illegal drugs.
As many as 40 percent of those arrested in Honolulu tested positive for
crystal methamphetamines (ice).

Of course, lawmakers think in terms of laws, but ice -- and other
debilitating drugs -- have been around more than long enough to indicate
criminality is a symptom of a health and social problem.

The only solutions to illegal drugs such as ice are to cut off the supply --
laws exist for that purpose -- and to provide rehabilitation for those
already caught in the drug's web. Both of those items require money. There
is little doubt that Hawaii's police agencies are more than up to the task
of cutting off the supply, given enough manpower and operating funds. There
is absolutely no doubt that programs that incorporate close supervision and
long-term, family-inclusive counseling can get individuals off the drug and
back into real life. But it will take money and community commitment -- not
more laws.

Say said, "We are losing the battle against ice." That's true because the
"enemy" in this battle is not the individual user or street seller, it's the
supplier and the reasons behind the use of this, or any other drug.