USE OF DRUGS AT THE ROOT OF MOST OF MAUI'S PROBLEMS

I was saddened to hear about the arrest of Albert Murashige, the warden of
Maui Community Correctional Center, on charges of kidnapping and sexual
assault (The Maui News, June 6). If another Maui woman was the victim of
sexual violence, my heart goes out to her.

Mr. Murashige's arrest is another indicator that we live on a deeply
troubled island, and almost all our troubles are related to drugs. Why is
our jail filled? Almost every inmate is incarcerated because of drugs in one
way or another.

The same issue of The Maui News that reported Mr. Murashige's arrest
included all the usual drug-related stories, including a female selling
"ice" to an undercover officer. The "ice" epidemic that is ruining this
island has not been the result of Green Harvest making marijuana scarce and
expensive, as the marijuana stoners insist. It has come about because of the
mindset that getting high, drunk and stoned is where it's at, and if the
substance is illegal, use it anyway.

People today don't commit crimes, they "make mistakes," according to their
lawyers. People aren't responsible for their criminal acts, their attorneys
argue, but the drugs they were using made them act irresponsibly.

We're in a very troubled society, and drugs -- legal and illegal -- are at
the heart of almost all our worst problems.

Jerome Kellner

Makawao