FOR COUNCILMAN RAPOZO, THE WAR ON DRUGS IS PERSONAL

LIHU'E - For new County Councilmember Mel Rapozo, the island's war on drugs
is personal.

Very personal.

He has a brother who was addicted to crystal methamphetamine, a drug known
on the street on Kaua'i as ice.

Rapozo told his story to members and guests of the Lihu'e Business
Association at Hawai'ian Classic Desserts on Rice Street here.

Though his brother is now clean, permanent damage has been done, he said.

One of his cousins is in prison, probably for life, because of drug
problems, Rapozo said candidly in front of around 30 people.

"Every family that you talk to is suffering" from impacts of ice use, said
Rapozo, who is a former Kaua'i Police Department officer. He is an advocate
for drug-testing for all government employees, and says he would support
using drug-sniffing dogs to check for illegal substances in the island's
schools.

"It's huge," he said of the island's ice problem. "It's a problem. It's a
bad problem, and it's worse than people think it is," said Rapozo, adding
that he favors tossing convicted drug dealers into prison without even
considering offering them treatment programs.

"We gotta remove this cancer from society," he said. " We gotta protect our
children."

Providing treatment facilities and talking about the problem aren't going to
solve the island's drug problem, he is convinced. "We gotta attack this at
all levels."

The war on drugs needs to be a community-wide endeavor, and the beginning
Mayor Bryan Baptiste has made, bringing representatives of various entities
involved in the war and planning to hire a drug coordinator, is good, Rapozo
said.

"We do have an army on this island to go out and fight this war," Rapozo
said. "Support the kids. Tell them it's OK to say 'no.'"

He warned the audience that a new drug, perhaps even more addicting and
dangerous than ice, is rumored to be on the way to Kaua'i, if it hasn't
arrived already. "Yaba" is a Thai drug in pill form that combines ice and
ecstasy in equal portions.

Jay Furfaro, like Rapozo a first-term councilmember, agreed with Rapozo.
Furfaro said he supports the lead Baptiste has taken in the "drug war," and
views the situation from a "loss-prevention" standpoint of trying to keep
children and families safe, healthy and happy.

To stop the growth of drug use, programs including education and
rehabilitation need to be implemented that can include mechanisms for
measuring progress in the war, Furfaro said.

Rapozo said he was surprised by a call from a social worker at Waimea High
School who said an adult man was using school students as "mules" to bring
drugs into the school for distribution purposes. He said people have lost
faith and confidence in the ability of the Kaua'i Police Department to
control drug abuse.

If KPD Chief George Freitas says drugs are coming to the island from distant
shores, then police should concentrate on interdiction efforts at the
harbors and airport, Rapozo said.

If KPD officers checked incoming boats, flights, and freight companies,
"we'd be surprised what we'd find," said Rapozo.

Rapozo talked about a place he and his family used to spend a lot of time at
in his younger days, a place he called his "next project." Drug use is
rampant at Hanama'ulu Beach Park. "That place is disgusting," he said.