PANEL OKS ANTI-ICE BILL

A U.S. Senate committee has approved $4 million to fight the drug crystal
methamphetamine on the Big Island.

The money stems from Mayor Harry Kim's "war" on the illegal drug known as
ice.

Kim's staff did research and told him that Hawaii County has twice the
statewide average of sixth-graders who reported using ice. A 2000 state
Department of Health study found that Hawaii County had the highest use of
ice by 12th-graders in the nation. These are just two of many statistics
that shocked Kim into battle.

Kim said he told Sen. Daniel Inouye about the ice problem when Inouye paid
Kim a courtesy visit "many, many" months ago.

"At that time he gave us more or less a challenge," Kim said, to "come up
with an idea to make Hawaii Island a model."

Kim and Inouye collaborated and decided to convene a "meth summit" of
high-level government officials working with local agencies and community
members.

The summit, to be held Aug. 27 at the Outrigger Waikoloa Resort, is
sponsored by the National Crime Prevention Council and the Drug Enforcement
Administration. The chiefs of both agencies, along with Inouye, are
scheduled as speakers. Inouye, Kim and police Chief James Correa will host
the daylong event.

"Hawaii County police report that arrests for ice distribution increased 431
percent from 1997 to 2000," says the invitation. "Child Protective Services
report that over 1,500 children have been removed from their homes in Hawaii
County, 85 - 90 percent which are ice or drug-related.

"To effectively address this problem, it is imperative that we collectively
work together to reclaim our island from this growing threat."

Sandi Skousen, press secretary to Inouye, said the $4 million for the Hawaii
County Comprehensive Methamphetamine Response Program approved Thursday by
the Senate Appropriations Committee would go to funding projects that come
out of the summit. The bill - which includes $71 million dollars for crime
prevention initiatives in Hawaii and ocean preservation projects throughout
the Pacific - must survive votes by the full Senate and House as well as
approval by the White House.

Inouye's Web site says the senator wants the money "to complement and
enhance local resources by providing drug enforcement personnel,
communication and information technology support, meth lab cleanup
assistance, and rehabilitation and prevention programs." The Web site notes
that drug abuse on the Big Island is nearly five times the state average.

Billy Kenoi, executive assistant to Mayor Kim, said the meth summit will be
one of the first six held in the county. He said the planning committee
hopes to have 350 participants.

"The goal of the summit is to have national, state and county agencies
commit to addressing the problem by working with the community to identify
the problems, identify the solutions to the problems and identify barriers
to implementing the solutions," Kenoi said. Then they'll decide which
solutions are the most feasible.

Some ideas already being considered, said Kenoi, are to increase the
presence of the DEA and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms on the
Big Island, Kenoi said.

Kenoi considers it essential to obtain a residential drug treatment facility
for youths on this island. Inouye already secured $1.25 million for the Big
Island Youth Anti-Drug Program, "and the money is landing on the Big Island
next month," Kenoi said. The program will be administered by the Bay Clinic.

The DEA and NCPC have committed to providing technical assistance for a year
after the summit, Kenoi said.

"Harry Kim is very grateful that Senator Inouye has not only committed to
help our island ... but also he's supplementing our initiative with
resources because he recognizes the problems that the Big Island is
currently experiencing," Kenoi said. "Without his help, there's no summit."

Kenoi stressed, however, that the ice problem can only be solved with a
"comprehensive effort" by people who live on the Big Island. "We cannot look
to Senator Inouye," he said, "to solve all of our problems."