INOUYE: 'ICE' A PLAGUE ON ISLE

U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye said he arranged to bring the heads of the Drug
Enforcement Administration and the National Crime Prevention Council to the
Big Island for a methamphetamine summit after Mayor Harry Kim told him how
bad the problem of "ice" is here.

"It was almost unbelievable that this was happening in the state of Hawaii
and especially on this island," Inouye said Tuesday to more than 300 people
at the Outrigger Waikoloa Hotel. "You have to acknowledge that in this
paradise there's a terrible plague."

Inouye said at one time people would have assumed that the ice problem was
restricted to transplants from the mainland. "Ask any one of you and you
will tell me, 'No. This is a local problem,'" he said.

The purpose of the summit was to get representatives of the community
together to come up with solutions to the ice problem with support from the
federal government.

The participants included members of law enforcement, the judiciary,
education, the health profession and the community at large. A few were
students and former ice users.

Inouye said he was heartened when he learned that another 300 people wanted
to attend the summit but had to be turned away for lack of space. "That's
awesome," he said.

Jim Copple, head of the National Crime Prevention Council, said the first
similar meth summit was held in Washington state a year ago and the results
were "amazing." Washington was able to get $4 million from the federal
government and $3 million from the state to help battle its meth problem.

Asa Hutchinson, head of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, said
the only other summits - one in Kentucky and one in Utah - also were
successful.

In Utah, for example, it was decided to limit purchases of drugs containing
pseudoepinephrine, a component in methamphetamine that is found in over -
the - counter cold medicines. After doing so, the number of meth labs and
the quantities of the meth seized decreased, he said.

Hutchinson called methamphetamine the "No. 1 drug problem in rural America"
and said the crystallized meth found in Hawaii is the most potent form.

"We've also seen that drugs do fund terrorism," Hutchinson said, asserting
that more than one - third of the terrorist organizations listed by the
State Department are financed by drug trafficking.

"As your children go to school every day, the question is not, 'Will they be
lured by terrorists?' The question is, 'Will they be ensnared by the lure of
drugs?'" Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson said pseudoepinephrine is manufactured in China and goes from
there to Canada - where it is unregulated - and then to California for
manufacture and distribution, before coming to Hawaii to be made into its
crystallized form. "What happens here has international roots," he said. He
said the DEA is lobbying Canada to regulate pseudoepinephrine.

Acting Police Chief Lawrence Mahuna said ice use is "quite possibly" higher
on the Big Island than anywhere else in America. He said in 1998 police
seized 58 ounces of the drug. By 2000, the seizures were up to 292 ounces.

Mahuna said the $100 - to $200 - a - day drug habit hurts more than just the
users and their families because it causes "collateral" crimes. "People who
are on crystal meth cannot hold a job," Mahuna said.

Dr. Wes Clark, director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, said
it's important for the community to work together to solve the problem.
"This is not somebody else's problem," he said.

After hearing the speakers, the participants broke into groups of 10 to come
up with suggested solutions.

The federal officials will take the suggestions back to Washington, D.C.,
and compile a master list, then send copies to the participants, who will
vote on what they think are the most realistic and effective remedies.

The DEA and NCPC officials, who have committed to providing support for a
year, will return to the Big Island in four to six weeks for a follow - up
meeting.