LEILANI ESTATES, Hawaii) Another medical marijuana user says Big Island police have interfered with his legal use of the substance.

Guy Shepard, 60, a retired accountant in Leilani Estates south of Hilo, said police seized two of his seven plants yesterday and destroyed a third. Police left as they came, via helicopter, without arresting him.

The incident followed the arrest of three medical marijuana users in Kona last week where police seized 20 plants and 1.5 ounces of dried marijuana.

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It Had Been Taken From 3 Approved Users Of Medical Marijuana

KAILUA-KONA) Kona police have returned 1.5 ounces of marijuana to three state-approved medical marijuana users after confiscating the substance from them last week.

In a room at the main Kealakehe station yesterday, a police officer returned the marijuana belonging to John and Rhonda Robison and their house guest, Kea Wells.

But police say an investigation is continuing and charges are still possible.

Honolulu attorney Jack Schweigert, who represents the three, said this is the first instance in Hawaii of police returning marijuana to people.

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BARCELONA, Spain -- From the jungles of southeast Asia to the streets of Moscow, the AIDS virus is riding on the back of a global heroin epidemic and taking root among the most populous nations on Earth.

The link between HIV infection and injection drug use was one of the earliest discoveries of the epidemic. But it is only recently that disease trackers have detected signs of a rapidly spreading drug-related outbreak in Eastern Europe and Asia that threatens to reach into the general population.

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I agree with the editorial "School drug tests are not the solution" (Star-Bulletin, July 1). I'm a 16-year-old who thinks teenagers have the right to their privacy. It's not fair if only teenagers are subject to random searches. What about adults? Someone would have to get a search warrant in order to go through an adult's belongings and that would also involve having probable cause. They couldn't get a search warrant just based on the way the person looked or what sport he or she participated in.

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The Kona patients say officers block their legal use of the drug

KAILUA-KONA) Three Kona residents say Big Island police are blocking them from legally using marijuana for medical purposes.

Rhonda Robison, her husband, John, and their house guest Kealoha Wells were arrested Monday at their Kalaoa, North Kona, home for allegedly promoting a detrimental drug. Police seized 20 marijuana plants and 1.5 ounces of processed marijuana, Rhonda Robison said.

John Robison and Wells have leukemia, and Rhonda Robison has a form of muscular dystrophy. They have permits to use marijuana under the state law that allows medical marijuana users to have seven plants each, plus one ounce of processed marijuana each, Robison said.

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Cynthia Tucker's column on drugs ("U.S. should quietly end war on drugs," Star-Bulletin, June 28) is the best article I have read since arriving in Honolulu. I am visiting your beautiful island from Glasgow, Scotland. In my city and every other city in the United Kingdom, drugs are freely available. The police simply don't have the resources to combat drugs. It is a war that can never be won, being fought on the drug dealers' terms.

What America does, the U.K. tends to follow. Is there an American politician with the courage and vision to legalize drugs? The illegal-drug market is worth billions of dollars to criminals. What would it be worth to governments if it was heavily taxed (not unlike alcohol and cigarettes)?

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Cynthia Tucker's recent column (Star-Bulletin, June 28) asserting that the federal anti-drug effort is a costly failure is refuted by the facts. Anti-drug efforts of the 1980s and '90s have produced remarkable results.

In 1979, there were 25.4 million drug users in America. In 2000, this number had dropped to 14 million, a 45 percent decrease. Cocaine use in America declined from 4.7 million users in 1979 to 1.2 million users in 2000. Adolescent drug use in 2000 was almost half the level of 1979 (2.2 million youth, compared with 4.1 million). These numbers are still too high, but they show steady and significant progress.

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The Kauai Police Department earlier this week cut down almost 10,000 marijuana plants of varying size. They were assisted by state and federal agencies in spotting the plants using a helicopter and in eradicating the plants.

The good news is the number of plants located and destroyed. The bad news is word that the sale of ice, which requires no growing of plants and it thus less obvious, is the drug of choice now to sell.

However, continuing to fly Green Harvest operations is an important part of the battle to keep the Island free of drug abuse.

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The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has ruled that the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional. The Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional? Americans should be outraged at this irresponsible decision (The Maui News, June 27 and 28).

The court found that the reciting of the pledge by teachers and students "amounts to a government endorsement of religion," going so far as to compare the phrase "under God" with "under Zeus." Just last month, this radical court found that certain people could smoke marijuana on federal lands if it is part of their religion.

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Cynthia Tucker's column "U.S. should quietly end war on drugs" (Star-Bulletin, June 28) is a masterpiece.

Her suggestions would allow the short-minded legislators to at least save face. Apparently they didn't learn a thing with the legislation on Prohibition some 70 years ago.

Why continue with a war against drugs after 40 years of utter failure and a waste of billions of dollars of taxpayers' money?

A.J. Calabro

Kailua

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Beginning today, drivers with expired licenses have three months to renew them before having to start over with learner's permits, drug abusers will get access to clean syringes, and people who feed sharks for commercial gain will be breaking the law.

More than three dozen state laws that passed during the 2002 legislative session go into effect today. Some of them -- including legislation that aims to address Hawai'i's problems with drug abuse -- could have far-reaching affects.

First-time, nonviolent drug users will be sentenced to probation and get drug treatment instead of jail time, a measure that judges and health officials say should help alleviate prison overcrowding as well as related public health problems.

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The Issue: Schools have been allowed by the U.S. Supreme Court to subject public school students participating in extracurricular activities to random drug tests.

AN Oklahoma school's policy of conducting random drug tests on students participating in extracurricular activities may be misguided, but the U.S. Supreme Court has given its stamp of approval. Proponents of drug tests would do better to extend them to all students. Other school-based drug prevention programs remain preferable to intrusive searches.

Drug abuse, especially the increased use of crystal methamphetamine and the amphetamine-based hallucinogen Ecstasy, is a problem in Hawaii's high schools. However, it has not reached the "epidemic" level that Justice Clarence Thomas described in allowing schools to resort to random testing of students.

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Hawaii high schoolers are not likely to be subjected to random drug testing anytime soon, despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week that upheld a school's right to test any student who joins competitive after-school activities and teams.

The 5-4 decision means that schools can administer drug tests regardless of whether there is evidence that a student has used drugs. Previously random testing had been allowed only for student athletes.

"We find that testing students who participate in extracurricular activities is a reasonably effective means of addressing the school district's legitimate concerns in preventing, deterring and detecting drug use," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority.

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Physicians And Pharmacies Will Be Allowed To Sell Them

People who inject illegal drugs will be able to buy sterile syringes from pharmacies and health care providers starting tomorrow.

A bill passed by the Legislature authorizes sale of sterile syringes to reduce sharing of infected syringes and transmission of HIV, hepatitis and other blood-borne diseases.

"The new law permits an effective prevention intervention with little or no cost to the public purse," said Peter Whiticar, chief of the state Health Department's STD/AIDS Prevention Branch.

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(ATLANTA) There is little good news from the anti-terror front these days. The whereabouts of Osama bin Laden are still unknown; the entrenched Washington bureaucracy is fighting the new proposal for a Cabinet-level homeland defense department; and al-Qaida has regrouped to foment jihad in Kashmir, the area hotly contested by two new nuclear powers, India and Pakistan.

In other words, world affairs remain depressing.

Still, there was this small notice mixed in with recent news about reorganizing and retooling the FBI: The agency will scale back its efforts in the so-called war on drugs. It comes as a relief -- a bit of good news - -- that the FBI has shifted its priorities away from corner crackheads and petty methamphetamine dealers. With terrorists threatening to explode dirty bombs, spread smallpox and put cyanide in the water supply, it seems silly for a major law enforcement agency to expend its precious resources hunting down drug offenders.

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The Natural Law Party candidate for governor, Jonathan Adler, was convicted of commercial promotion of marijuana for possessing 89 marijuana plants. Mr. Adler, 50, a minister in the Religion of Jesus Church, argued that using marijuana was part of his religion. He also said he used marijuana to treat his asthma.

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The June 12 Star-Bulletin article on the 2001 ADAM (Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring program) report on the dramatic use-levels of "ice" (crystal methamphetamine) by arrested males in Honolulu begs the question of why Hawaii has such a high rate of use and what can be done to address it. Accessibility of drugs, biological and environmental factors all contribute to a person's drug use and whether or not he/she will become addicted. What also needs to be factored in is the initial decision for the drug user to "use or not use."

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HILO -- Jonathan Adler, religious marijuana user and Natural Law Party candidate for governor, has been found guilty of commercial promotion of marijuana.

Adler, 50, was charged with possessing 89 marijuana plants and marijuana paraphernalia in 1998. Adler contended that religious freedom under the Constitution allows him to use marijuana.

In handing down a written verdict yesterday, Judge Greg Nakamura noted that Adler is a reverend in the Religion of Jesus Church and that Adler sincerely believes in the church.

Nakamura also noted that the church requires its believers to use marijuana at least once a year, usually on Aug. 21, which they believe to be the true birthday of Jesus.

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A Big Island marijuana advocate running for governor as a third-party candidate has been convicted on drug charges filed three years ago.

Jonathan Adler, 50, who says he requires marijuana for his asthma and for religious purposes, was convicted of possessing more than 50 marijuana plants and of possessing drug paraphernalia.

Adler, a Puna resident, faces up to 60 years in prison upon sentencing, scheduled for Aug. 26, but probation is more likely, his attorney said.

Adler filed nomination papers April 1 to run for governor as a candidate for the Natural Law, but Rex Quidilla, state Office of Elections spokesman, said Adler cannot run for state office once he is sentenced for the felony.

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In the article "Isles top nation for thefts" (Star-Bulletin, June 11), Capt. Carlton Nishimura of the Honolulu Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division said, "Unemployed people who have a drug problem need to substantiate their living through theft" and increasing treatment opportunities for drug offenders is a step in the right direction.

This is not a strong enough solution. If there are unemployed people, then there have to be more opportunities for training and employment for Hawaii residents. More vocational colleges should be established where people could be taught skills and earn a living instead of living off welfare, charity or stealing other people's property.

Also, instead of just treating drug addicts, the drug trafficking should be nipped in the bud; find the source, plug it and deal out harsh punishments for drug dealing. This surely would result in a much safer and happier Hawaii.

Raj Bose

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