Concerned citizens and marijuana advocates crowded the County Council conference room Tuesday to testify against the acceptance of federal funds for Green Harvest, the island's marijuana eradication program.

Following hours of testimony, County Council members agreed to sponsor a workshop to facilitate a dialogue between the community and police. A date for the workshop was not announced.

Thirty - two people testified for more than four hours regarding police helicopters flying too low, medical marijuana plants being wrongfully seized, police using marijuana for their personal use and the need to concentrate more efforts on battling crystal methampetamine or "ice."

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HILO - Police and some County Council members are revealing a different perspective on how the county should conduct its marijuana eradication program, reflecting more sensitivity to the rights of individuals.

Acting Police Chief Lawrence Mahuna is expected to give a presentation to council members next week on the marijuana eradication program.

For review by the Finance Committee 10 a.m. Tuesday, will be the police marijuana eradication report for its Aug. 19 - 23 mission in which 12,418 plants were seized in East Hawaii. They will also consider a letter North Kona resident Rhonda Robison recently wrote to Public Safety Director Ted Sakai, and his response, on issues relating to medical marijuana.

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The Community Hopes To Reap The Same Gains As Kalihi And Waipahu

The Ewa community is trying to take the sting out of District 8 crime.

In 2000 it had the highest number of cases of any police district on Oahu for negligent homicide, forcible rape, aggravated assault, arson, sex offenses and family offenses, including domestic abuse.

Police, prosecutors and the community hope to see a drop in those numbers as have other Oahu areas that have started Weed & Seed programs to raise community awareness and establish intervention and prevention programs.

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WAILUKU -- A former Hana man who would be subject to a one-year, eight-month mandatory minimum term in prison also is eligible for no prison at all under a new state law for first-time drug offenders.

During a hearing Tuesday, 2nd Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza instructed Maui Deputy Prosecutor Kevin Jenkins to file a motion for a mandatory prison term for Philip Acang, 30, on multiple counts of drug possession, including possession of crystal methamphetamine.

But Deputy Public Defender Wendy Hudson will be allowed to argue that the law providing for a mandatory prison term for Acang as a repeat offender does not apply based on the new law, Act 161.

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The federal government's stance on marijuana prohibition has nothing to do with science, experience or rationality. Several government-funded studies have found it to be relatively benign, and recommend decriminalization. Also ignored are the millions of Americans who have been smoking pot for decades without serious physical or mental damage. Those who deal with intoxicated folks -- cops, bartenders and others -- will tell you that compared to the drunk, the crackhead or the meth user, a pot smoker is rarely troublesome.

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The expansion of the drug war gravy train described in your Sept. 4 article is tantamount to a taxpayer-funded price support for organized crime (Community, "Ice show," HW). Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. In terms of addictive drugs like meth, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits.

The drug war doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime. With alcohol prohibition repealed, liquor bootleggers no longer gun each other down in drive-by shootings, nor do consumers go blind drinking unregulated bathtub gin. While U.S. politicians ignore the historical precedent, European countries are embracing harm reduction, a public-health alternative based on the principle that both drug abuse and drug prohibition have the potential to cause harm.

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HONOLULU (AP) -- Law enforcement officials have seized 9,430 marijuana plants on Oahu public lands in a weeklong Green Harvest operation.

The haul was ''better than average,'' said Detective Emilio Laganse of the Honolulu police narcotics detail.

The five-day operation ended Friday. Laganse would not reveal the specific locations of the raids, but he said most of the marijuana was seized on state land in mountainous areas.

''These are remote areas usually accessible only to hikers and hunters,'' he said.

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Testing for drugs in the military is on the rise. But while the overall percentage of service members testing positive remains low, a growing number of large-scale discharges -- including two in Hawai'i -- show the military still has a ways to go in combatting drug-use problems.

In May, the Navy revealed that 23 sailors with a P-3 Orion squadron stationed at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i at Kane'ohe Bay were being kicked out for illegal drug use. And earlier this month, Marine Corps officials confirmed that they either administratively discharged or court-martialed 17 service members at Kane'ohe Bay.

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It's an illegal methamphetamine drug in pill form that is hitting the Mainland and European dance club scene. Its high can last up to 10 hours. And it's manufactured to look and taste like candy, making it more appealing to the younger crowd.

It's called "Ya Ba," which means "crazy medicine" in Thailand.

The drug has gained a foothold on the Mainland where federal agents last month arrested 10 people in Sacramento, Calif., suspected of smuggling hundreds of thousands of the pills into California from Thailand and Laos.

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Honolulu police working with other law enforcement agencies and helicopters seized 9,430 marijuana plants on O'ahu public lands in a weeklong "Green Harvest" operation that ended yesterday.

"It was a pretty decent haul," said Detective Emilio Laganse of Honolulu police Narcotics/Vice Division's marijuana detail. "This one was better than average."

The five-day operation swept through O'ahu, although Laganse could not reveal specific locations for security reasons.

Operation Green Harvest is a state, county and federal program launched in the 1980s to eradicate marijuana grown in the Islands. Laganse could not reveal how often law enforcement agencies perform the Green Harvest operations on O'ahu, but said it is done regularly around the state because Hawai'i's sunny climate allows the plant to be grown year-round.

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HILO - Some councilmembers are questioning whether police are abiding by the rules they adopted as a condition of this county accepting federal money for marijuana eradication.

At their finance committee meeting Tuesday, three of them - Curtis Tyler of Kona, Gary Safarik of Puna, and Julie Jacobson, representing Puna, Ka'u and South Kona - referred to photographs of low-flying helicopters used in marijuana eradications, which they received from Pastor Don Eads, the founder of Hawaii Medical Marijuana Association.

Eads also gave councilors two petitions, one signed by 59 Puna residents calling for a stop to the "Green Harvest, and another signed by 47 residents of the Puna Beach Palisades subdivision referring to an "extremely intrusive" July 18 marijuana eradication mission.

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HONOLULU (AP) -- A federal law-enforcement program credited with reducing drugs and crimes in several Oahu communities may be expanded to Ala Moana and Kalihi Valley, organizers said.

A plan to extend the Weed & Seed program into the Ala Moana area would be an extension of the current Kalihi-Palama/Chinatown program, said Maile Kanemaru, executive director of Hawaii Weed & Seed.

The program has also had success in Waipahu.

Much of the crime in the Ala Moana area is associated with the large number of bars, strip clubs and gaming rooms along Keeaumoku and Sheridan streets, said state Rep. Ken Hiraki, D-Kakaako-Downtown Honolulu.

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In an Aug. 29 editorial ("Good luck to 'Ewa's Weed & Seed program"), The Honolulu Advertiser correctly focuses on the importance of community involvement in making Weed & Seed a success in Kalihi-Palama/Chinatown and Waipahu.

Not only is our success based on the generous support of volunteers and partners such as the Aloha United Way, YMCA, the state and federal judiciaries, and countless others, but in the unselfish, team spirit approach of working together toward a common goal. Through the Weed & Seed strategy, these organizations and volunteers have proven that by working together, we can accomplish anything.

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Organizers of the Weed & Seed law-enforcement program, which has helped drastically reduce drug dealing and other criminal activity in Kalihi and Waipahu, will hold a public meeting this week to discuss extending the program into the Ala Moana area.

Hawai'i Weed & Seed executive director Maile Kanemaru said the effort would be an extension of the Kalihi-Palama/Chinatown program and would be the second group seeking to expand the program into their neighborhood.

A group of Kalihi residents has already been meeting for about a month in their bid for the Weed & Seed expansion.

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Editor:

The hideous affect of crystal methamphetamine, or "ice," on communities and families throughout Hawaii was exemplified by the overwhelming attendance of over 300 social services providers, law enforcement and interested community members at the recent two-day conference on "ice" held in Waikoloa.

Social servants from Oahu, Maui and Molokai joined the Big Island conference in an effort to understand the consequences of "ice" use on the addict, their families, and the community. With Child Protective Services in Hawaii reporting that 85-95 percent of their caseload is "ice," or drug-related, it was apparent that social workers were eager to learn how to deal with "ice" addicts and their family members.

Family Support Services of West Hawaii is appreciative of the donations and efforts of the organizations that helped make the conference and its expansion possible.

Don Bebee, Executive Director

Family Support Services of Hawaii

Kailua-Kona

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Editor:

Reading all these articles for the last few years about the growing ice epidemic on our island is really frustrating.

I find it absolutely ridiculous that the state has the time and resources to harass honest license holding med-pot growers, but yet not enough to bust drug deals that go on in broad daylight, in the middle of town.

My own mother, who has a med-pot license, has helicopters fly so close, her entire house shakes. And yet I have to be scared to park my car at the Club back lot because every time I do, I am witness to a drug deal. I am not a pot advocate by any means, but even I can say ­ who cares about a little pot when our island is being overrun by this violent drug. This is not even to mention the numerous friends that I have lost to this drug, people who were talented, who could have gone so far in life, and they end up living on the street. Some even selling all their possessions, and sometimes even their bodies, all in the name of ice.

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I am glad to see that Sen . Dan Inouye has joined in the local fight against the growing problem of crystal methamphetamine. His commentary in the Aug. 25 Focus section points out many of the dangers and problems associated with this terrible scourge.

However, I believe that a basic point has been missed. The efficacy of the Green Harvest and Federal Property Forfeiture programs have caused a market condition where the more dangerous crystal meth is cheap and readily available. This must be part of the public policy debate on the subject.

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The Big Isle's Crystal Meth Summit Turned Into A PR Pitch For More Cops.

"I goin' speak from da heart," said Billy Kenoi to over 300 folks gathered in the Outrigger Waikoloa's Ali'i Ballroom on Aug. 27. "I goin' talk about one devastation dat hit ... our island."

Kenoi, a former congressional intern and Honolulu public defender, is Hawai'i County's point man on drug problems. His words followed brief talks given by his boss, Mayor Harry Kim, U.S. Senator Dan Inouye and Drug Enforcement Agency Administrator Asa Hutchinson.

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RE: ACLU And Drug Policy Forum Condemn Raids On Medical Pot Users, HT 8/21/02

Dear Editor, Why are Big Island police cracking down on local residents who hold medical marijuana permits? It's certainly an easy way to boost drug seizure statistics.

I hope Big Island police aren't harassing medical marijuana patients in order to "send a message" that marijuana use will not be tolerated.

Zero tolerance has done little - other than burden millions of otherwise law-abiding citizens with criminal records.

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HILO -- Natural Law Party gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Adler said he was hoping a state judge sentencing him for marijuana violations would be proud of his attempts to legalize medical and religious use of the drug.

That was what he told Judge Greg Nakamura yesterday in a half-hour speech punctuated frequently by tears.

But Nakamura sentenced Adler to a year in jail for five felonies related to marijuana.

Nakamura ordered Adler to serve six months of the sentence immediately. Whether Adler must serve the remainder will be "under advisement," Nakamura said.

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