Pubdate: Fri, 30 Aug 2002 Source: Maui News, The (HI) Contact: 2002 The Maui News Website: http://www.mauinews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2259 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) 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. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk