'ICE HOUSE' HOT LINE SOON TO BE IN PLACE

Living on the same street as an "ice" drug house is becoming too common of
an occurrence in Hawai'i.

That's the word legislators got from communities across Hawai'i during the
recently convened session of the Legislature.

Such houses are centers for dealing, using and in some cases manufacturing
the drug crystal methamphetamine. The street name for the illegal drug is
"ice."

In signing House Bill 297 Monday Gov. Linda Lingle added a new weapon in the
statewide battle against the destructive drug.

The bill releases $100,000 in funding July 1 to create a legal team within
the attorney general's office. The team will go after landlords and property
owners who allow tenants to manufacture and deal drugs, with a goal of
ridding communities of such places.

A call-in system with a hot line is set to be in place once the legal team
is organized.

Hawai'i has the highest per capita use of ice or crystal meth in the United
States, according to State Department of Health statistics.

Representatives Ezra Kanoho, D-East Kaua'i; Bertha Kawakami, D-South and
West Kaua'i and Ni'ihau; and Mina Morita, D-North Kaua'i, were some
introducers of the house bill.

Morita said the bill is a "small step in addressing the problem, it's a step
that we hope will bring results."

She said within Kaua'i's communities one of the biggest frustrations is
having a known drug house located nearby, but no anonymous way to report the
problem.

Now, local residents will soon be able to call the attorney general's office
with such concerns, she said.

Hawai'i's problem with ice and other illegal drugs was one of the few issues
brought to legislators this year directly from communities, Morita said.

It was a common issue that stood out in this session of the Legislature, she
said.

Morita said the first draft of the house bill introduced in January called
for the creation of a strike force made up of retired police officers.

"The thought behind that was when you work these cases, you need to do a lot
of investigative work," she said, pointing to a chronic shortage of officers
in county police departments across Hawai'i.