DRUGS ON KAUA'I

The Kauai Police Department is in line to receive $90,000 to battle drug
abuse, and aiming at fighting those who sell and use crystal
methamphetamine, a drug that's known on the street as "ice" or "batu."

The announcement came at a meeting of the Kaua'i Police Commission held
Friday.

The KPD is becoming part of a nationwide federal communications system that
tracks drug offenders and drug trafficking suspects.

The use of ice is a major problem on Kaua'i that hurts the entire community.
The illegal substance draws both dealers and users into crime, and if not
checked will lead dozens of today's Kaua'i children into crime when they
come of age. Ice use and dealing leads to robberies, bad check writing, car
theft and other crimes.

The good news about the overall crime picture is that it is generally down
on Kaua'i, except for the area of auto thefts which are up, but nowhere near
the high auto theft count of 1992, the year that Hurricane 'Iniki struck
Kaua'i.

In fact, Kaua'i is the only county in Hawai'i where the overall "crime
index" was down in 2001, according to a report titled "Crime in Hawaii -
2001 - A review of Uniform Crime Reports" that has been released by the
State of Hawai'i's Attorney General's office.

Hopefully, the federal assistance will help the KPD keep the Island's crime
rate on the downswing.

Tobacco settlement

A challenge to how funds from a settlement with the tobacco industry are
being spent in Hawai'i to combat smoking by teens and others has lost in
court.

The San Francisco-based federal Ninth Circuit Court has ruled that the state
can spend the tobacco funds anyway it sees fit.

The state was sued by residents insured by the Medicaid who want some of the
funds.

In 1998 Hawai'i received a $1.38 billion settlement from the tobacco
industry that is being received over a 25-year period.

Legislation took effect on July 1 that directed how the state would spend
the funds. So far, about a quarter of the incoming funds is going into a
budget reserve, some 35 percent is going into a children's health insurance
program, 12.5 percent is going into the Hawai'i Tobacco Prevention and
Control Trust Fund and about 28 percent is going for bonds for a new
facility for the medical school at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.

It appears the state is on the right track in spending the tobacco
settlement funds. Anti-smoking initiatives are especially visible on Kaua'i,
with the County Council recently approving a beefed-up smoking ban
ordinances applicable at some restaurants. In our schools, at the Kaua'i
County Fair and other public events, anti-smoking advocates have been very
visible and have worked hard to let school children know about the dangers
of smoking.

While smokers have every right in the world to smoke where second-hand smoke
doesn't affect others, it is also important that youngsters, and adults who
are already smoking, are aware of the health hazards of smoking.