COUNCILMAN'S VIEWPOINT

Councilman Mel Rapozo was blunt in his descriptions of the destructive
forces unleashed when our youth use the drug ice. Rapozo told a gathering of
the Lihue Business Association of how the drug hurt a member of his own
family, and how users congregating in local beach parks have taken away a
favorite long-time gathering place of his family.

Rapozo favors drug testing of government employees and bringing drug
sniffing dogs into schools. His stand on controlling drugs is to strictly
penalize dealers of illicit drugs.

The councilman's local viewpoint on the problem is one of the most realistic
appraisal that has appeared in The Garden Island during our recent series of
ice-related articles.

We are also discovering deeper side effects to our society as ice seeps
through our homes, parks and other gathering places. The need for foster
care for children with ice-addicted parents is apparently getting to the
critical point. While foster care will unfortunately always be a need of the
community, the tragic wake left behind when parents become irresponsible or
worse through using ice is putting increased, and unnecessary, pressure on
the foster care system.