Pubdate: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 Source: Garden Island (HI) Copyright: 2002 Kauai Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.kauaiworld.com/kauai/letterstoeditor.nsf/webletter?openform Website: http://kauaiworld.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/964 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) Note: For more on ice eradication in Hawaii go to http://www.mapinc.org/areas/Hawaii DRUGS ON KAUA'I The Kauai Police Department is in line to receive $90,000 to battle drug abuse, and aiming at fighting those who sell and use crystal methamphetamine, a drug that's known on the street as "ice" or "batu." The announcement came at a meeting of the Kaua'i Police Commission held Friday. The KPD is becoming part of a nationwide federal communications system that tracks drug offenders and drug trafficking suspects. The use of ice is a major problem on Kaua'i that hurts the entire community. The illegal substance draws both dealers and users into crime, and if not checked will lead dozens of today's Kaua'i children into crime when they come of age. Ice use and dealing leads to robberies, bad check writing, car theft and other crimes. The good news about the overall crime picture is that it is generally down on Kaua'i, except for the area of auto thefts which are up, but nowhere near the high auto theft count of 1992, the year that Hurricane 'Iniki struck Kaua'i. In fact, Kaua'i is the only county in Hawai'i where the overall "crime index" was down in 2001, according to a report titled "Crime in Hawaii - 2001 - A review of Uniform Crime Reports" that has been released by the State of Hawai'i's Attorney General's office. Hopefully, the federal assistance will help the KPD keep the Island's crime rate on the downswing. Tobacco settlement A challenge to how funds from a settlement with the tobacco industry are being spent in Hawai'i to combat smoking by teens and others has lost in court. The San Francisco-based federal Ninth Circuit Court has ruled that the state can spend the tobacco funds anyway it sees fit. The state was sued by residents insured by the Medicaid who want some of the funds. In 1998 Hawai'i received a $1.38 billion settlement from the tobacco industry that is being received over a 25-year period. Legislation took effect on July 1 that directed how the state would spend the funds. So far, about a quarter of the incoming funds is going into a budget reserve, some 35 percent is going into a children's health insurance program, 12.5 percent is going into the Hawai'i Tobacco Prevention and Control Trust Fund and about 28 percent is going for bonds for a new facility for the medical school at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. It appears the state is on the right track in spending the tobacco settlement funds. Anti-smoking initiatives are especially visible on Kaua'i, with the County Council recently approving a beefed-up smoking ban ordinances applicable at some restaurants. In our schools, at the Kaua'i County Fair and other public events, anti-smoking advocates have been very visible and have worked hard to let school children know about the dangers of smoking. While smokers have every right in the world to smoke where second-hand smoke doesn't affect others, it is also important that youngsters, and adults who are already smoking, are aware of the health hazards of smoking. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk