HOUSE MAJORITY PACKAGE FUNDS WAR ON DRUGS

All of Kaua'i's legislators understand the need to wage war on illegal
drugs, and are in positions to provide ammunition for that fight.

They have allies among the state House's Democratic majority. Legislation is
being formally introduced today to authorize continued warfare against drug
abuse, according to state Rep. Mina Morita (D), Ha'ena to Wailua).

The proposal is being introduced following several months of work and will
include legislation addressing the fight against illegal drug use, and
specifically a push for more community-based rehabilitation programs, Morita
said.

The North Shore and East Kaua'i legislator also has her eyes on programs
that may be implemented without cost to state government, she said.

"There might be some things that may not need legislation. I want to learn
more about weed-and-seed programs," said Morita. "There have been
weed-and-seed programs on O'ahu, but not the Neighbor Islands."

She said she needs to "learn how the program operates, where the funding
comes from, and how to get it in our community."

State Sen. Gary Hooser (D, Kaua'i, Ni'ihau) called the island's drug problem
"very serious." He said he and Mayor Bryan Baptiste have agreed to work
together in the war on drugs.

"Basically, I'm going to be looking for funds to support the
drug-coordinator (position and) program that kind of emerged from that
meeting," Hooser said of Baptiste's recent anti-drug summit, and another
meeting the two had recently.

"I'm going to be looking for funds to support the drug fight over here,"
Hooser said from Kaua'i recently.

"And I think right now one of the problems is that there's not a coordinated
effort. So I'd like to see a partnership between the state and the county
and private, nonprofits," Hooser added.

"Work together to fight this menace," he said. Hooser said the county might
provide office space; a private, nonprofit organization could provide the
human expertise; and the state could possibly supply funding.

"Of course, there's no guarantees, because money's really limited," Hooser
said.

He said the Kaua'i Drug Free Coalition is "doing some excellent work, and
I'd like to support both of those (anti-drug) efforts."

"I've always been extremely concerned about the drug problem on Kaua'i,"
state Rep. Ezra Kanoho (D, Wailua to Koloa) said.

"The House has taken that as one of its majority issues that needs to be
addressed," he said. "We're going to try to attack it on several fronts."

An amendment to the state Constitution, to coincide word-for-word with the
U.S. Constitution, regarding searches and seizures, will help law
enforcement officials by allowing more reasonable search-and-seizure actions
where suspected drug dealers are concerned, Kanoho said.

An earlier amendment to the state Constitution aimed at further protecting
individual rights was passed before sale and use of illegal drugs was a
major problem in the state, he said.

"Now, the Hawai'i Constitution offers a good degree of protection for drug
pushers and distributors, so we need to do something about it," he said.

"It's a balancing act. It's going to be a hard act to sell," because those
responsible for the original constitutional amendment aren't going to let
their work be undone by another amendment, Kanoho said. "But, we have a
problem that needs to be addressed. We need to get a better handle for
drugs."

At the present time, if law-enforcement officials have some evidence, even a
good idea, that someone in a neighborhood is dealing drugs out of his or her
home, that is not enough to get a legal warrant to search the premises, he
said.

"So there has to be a balance between what it can do to stop the
proliferation of drugs, but also protect individual rights. And it's a hard
balancing act," said Kanoho.

State Rep. Bertha Kawakami (D, Po'ipu to Mana, Ni'ihau) could not be reached
for comment.