GREEN HARVEST TURNED SMOKERS INTO PREDATORS

Having growing up in Hawaii throughout the '70s, '80s and '90s, I must
applaud Kat Brady's assessment that the disproportional use and arrest of
"ice" users in Hawaii was a reaction to the eradication of pakalolo through
Operation Green Harvest ("Arrested males on 'ice' top 35 percent,"
Star-Bulletin, June 12).

Green Harvest was a boon to lawmakers and law-enforcement agencies aiming to
persuade the public that they were reducing crime. It was an easy sell
because marijuana is bulky, highly visible and easily recognized, making it
easy to eradicate and display on the 6 o'clock news.

Crystal meth, on the other hand, is inconspicuous, potent and much more
destructive to the individual and society. It is easy to manufacture and
readily marketable to those seeking the recreational drug high.

Anyone with basic drug education would know that this eradication effort
would open the door to a much bigger problem, which we are now seeing
through crime statistics. We have turned the weekend pot smoker into a
high-strung, jobless, ruthless, desperate and addicted predator on society.
Instead of ordering out for pizza, beer and a movie, today's drug user
stalks people and property to fulfill the need for a binge.

It is a common belief that marijuana leads to use of harder drugs. Perhaps
it was the lack of marijuana that led to harder drug use, no?

Tom Topolinski

Wellington, Fla., Former Hawaii resident