TREATMENT KEY TO DRUG USE

Cigarette smokers are feeling under siege as more public places are placed
off limits. The pau hana beer parties in the parking lot are largely a thing
of the past due to tougher enforcement against driving under the influence.

The County of Maui's ban on smoking will be extended to restaurants, even
when the seating is in an open-air area as of Jan. 1. For years now, police,
prosecutors and judges have been taken a hard line against anyone involved
in accidents attributed to the consumption of alcohol or drugs.

Federal, state and county officials are continuing to find and eradicate
plots of marijuana, and people found growing or selling pot can expect to
have nearly all their material possessions confiscated even before they are
convicted in court. In recent times, major drug rings dealing heroin,
cocaine and crystal methamphetamine in the state have been seriously
disrupted, if not broken up.

In cases of driving under the influence and smoking in public, the victims
are usually innocent. Secondhand tobacco smoke is a proven carcinogenic.
Drunken or drug-impaired drivers kill people. The danger to society from
marijuana is less clear but the laws enacted by elected representatives of
the people are unambiguous and rigorously enforced.

The dangers to society from the above-mentioned drugs appear minimal
compared to the damage done by the use of the easily manufactured crystal
methamphetamine, also known as "ice" or "batu." Use of this most addicting
drug has ruined dozens of Maui families.

At a meeting of "ice" experts this week on the Big Island, Dr. Wesley Clark,
director of the National Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, said, "We
can't arrest our way out of the problem." Breaking chemical dependencies
requires concerted effort by the addicted, their families and friends, and
the legal opportunity to get clean.

Since July 1, state law requires first-time drug offenders to be sentenced
to treatment, a step on the right path. The Maui Drug Court, with its
rigorous monitoring and hard-nosed support, is another. More could and
should be done for those caught up in substance abuse, but it will take
money and, more importantly, a community with enough compassion and wisdom
to provide the help.