AIONA TO HEAD ADMINISTRATION'S 'ICE' ATTACK

HONOLULU -- The state administration won't sit idly by waiting for state
lawmakers to come up with ideas to attack the state's epidemic of ''ice''
use, Gov. Linda Lingle said Tuesday.

Lt. Gov. James ''Duke'' Aiona, a former judge who set up the state's Drug
Court program, will head a major conference this summer, bringing together
all the interested groups to address the soaring use of crystal
methamphetamine, Lingle said.

Word of plans for Aiona's conference came a day after legislative leaders
agreed to form a House-Senate committee to address the problem, starting
with a series of community hearings to gain information.

Aiona's effort is to formulate a comprehensive and coordinated approach to
dealing with a problem where programs now tend to be disjointed, Lingle
said.

The highly addictive illegal stimulant known on the streets as ice is being
blamed for ruining lives, breaking up homes and increasing property and
violent crimes, officials say.

Just a few hours before Lingle discussed plans for Aiona's statewide
conference, Honolulu police raided two apartments in Kalihi, arresting three
people on federal drug indictments and seizing 3 ounces of crystal
methamphetamine. A 4-year-old girl was in one of the apartments at the time.

U.S. Attorney Edward Kubo says crystal methamphetamine is the most serious
health issue facing Hawaii.

Hawaii has the worst ice problem in the nation and the drug had a role in 44
percent of all homicides and in most of the high profile cases of violence,
he said.

Kubo told a conference last fall that 40 percent of the people arrested in
Honolulu tested positive for methamphetamine use, that 30,000 Honolulu
residents are hard-core users and that it's associated with 90 percent of
confirmed child-abuse cases.

''This drug is directly linked to the destruction of families and a
deterioration of the social fabric in Hawaii,'' he said.

House and Senate leaders met on Monday and agreed to create a rare joint
select committee to see study the problem and see what the Legislature can
do next year.

''Legislators tend to think that problems can be solved with legislation,
but that is only a part of it, and so the lieutenant governor will be taking
a much broader view of it,'' Lingle said.

Lingle said Aiona's effort will involve the federal government with a
commitment already from the regional director of the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services to participate in the Hawaii conference.

Representatives from the state departments of Health, Human Services,
Education and Public Safety will take part, she said.

Lawmakers and the county mayors also will be invited to participate in the
effort that will include meetings on the Neighbor Islands, she said, adding
that the mayors met with her a couple of weeks ago and asked that the state
administration lead the effort.

''We expect to convene separate groups on each of the major islands because
we don't think the solutions that work here in Honolulu will necessarily
work on the Neighbor Islands, although the problem is certainly as severe on
the Neighbor Islands,'' Lingle said. ''The community is as concerned as we
are here in Honolulu, but we think their approaches will be somewhat
different and their solutions will be different.''

A schedule for Aiona's conference has not yet been set.

Lingle said currently, the various departments have funding for drug
enforcement and treatment programs.

''But what the lieutenant governor believes, and I think he's right on
target in this, is that it's been a very disjointed effort,'' she said.
''There are a lot of people working on different pieces of it and he wants
to be the focal point to bring it together.

''We simply can't afford to go along as we have. A lot of money has been
spent, but we haven't gotten the result that we want,'' she said.

For example, people who might want to break their habit can't get immediate
treatment because there's a waiting list, Lingle said. ''You can't talk
seriously about dealing with the ice epidemic if you don't allow people to
get treatment when they want it.''

The governor reiterated her support for drug testing in the public schools.