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. [continues 143 words]
Don't squander your compassion on Mike DeKneef and his three-year incarceration in a federal "country-club" prison camp ("Drugs put DeKneef a long way from home," Star-Bulletin, June 16). Save your sympathy for those whom he helped set on a journey of drug addiction through his dealing of crystal methamphetamine. Drug users disrupt people's lives and cause emotional trauma when they commit crimes to buy the drugs they crave. But these tribulations are relatively short-lived when compared to the harm caused by users who turn to dealing, and thereby draw others into lives of misery. [continues 377 words]
Dear Editor, After over 60 years of Cannabis Prohibition - what is the result? - -Almost no public knowledge about Industrial Cannabis as a renewable resource. - -Deforestation instead of using Cannabis for paper products and building materials is causing millions of acres of trees, including the Amazon Rainforest, to disappear, critically altering world ecosystems. - -Discontinuing production and development of once popular and commonly used hemp biomass fuels has forced our dependence on fuel to be supplied only by oil and coal monopolies. Burning their fossil fuel products is the main cause of global warming. [continues 237 words]
Admits Program Isn't Working, But Demands Congress Fund It Anyway Drug Czar John Walters requested last week that members of a Senate appropriations subcommittee continue funding the White House's $1.8 billion anti-drug ad campaign - even though the ads have failed to discourage teens from using drugs, and have been associated with increasing drug use among frequent viewers. Walters told senators that he intends to overhaul the campaign by quantitatively testing new ads before they air, targeting older teens, and shifting the campaign's focus from polydrug use to marijuana only. [continues 271 words]
When the FBI reported that Hawai'i led the nation in thefts, thefts from vehicles and robberies, the message was finally clear: We need change and we need it now. When our local leaders decided to give first-time drug offenders classes instead of consequence, the "hole" was dug deeper. Citizens in Hawai'i are finally fed up with the liberals who have created states of emergency in the state prison system and public schools, and questionable conduct by our elected Democratic officials. [continues 56 words]
Your otherwise commendable editorial (Star-Bulletin, June 13) on the dangers to youth of methamphetamine abuse is marred by your reference to Kat Brady's claim that users have turned to meth because of Hawaii's marijuana eradication campaign. In a recent survey of 25,000 Hawaii students, 71 percent of high school seniors stated that it would be "fairly easy" or "very easy" for them to get marijuana. If Hawaii has a marijuana shortage, Brady is the only one aware of it. Ray Gagner Kailua [end]
The Former Island Baseball Star And Coach Is Spending This Father's Day In Federal Prison, While He And His Family Wait To Be Together Again He pictured razor wire, guards in towers with rifles, and noisy, violent inmates. But incarceration is different than what Mike DeKneef imagined. The federal prison camp, a low-security facility in Sheridan, Ore., is "not like the movies or OCCC," says DeKneef, a former baseball star and Kamehameha assistant coach from Pearl City. Not that his home for the next three years is a playground. [continues 1098 words]
Bravo to Hawaii lawmakers and Gov. Cayetano for the passage of the drug-diversion measure ("Drug offender bill ready to sign," Star-Bulletin, June 8). Here in California, a similar law, Proposition 36, was passed two years ago. Since then, the state has saved nearly $2 billion in incarceration costs and rehabilitated thousands of drug offenders. Placing nonviolent drug users -- most of whom are arrested for smoking marijuana -- in jail alongside hard criminals makes no sense. Hawaii no doubt will enjoy the same benefits from this bill in the years to come. Adam Wiggins Pasadena, Calif. [end]
A National Survey Shows Men Arrested For Crimes In Honolulu Are More Likely Than Arrestees Elsewhere To Be Users Of Crystal Methamphetamine. CRYSTAL methamphetamine is a larger problem in Hawaii than elsewhere in the country, but that may change. The ease and low cost of producing what is being called the poor man's cocaine is increasing its appeal across the country. Education may be the best way to combat this dangerous drug. From January 2000 through last September 2001, 35.9 percent of all males arrested in Honolulu tested positive for crystal meth, or "ice," a percentage far above any of the other 36 cities included in a survey by the U.S. Department of Justice. All other cities registered percentages below 30 percent. The survey shows it is increasingly the drug of choice in Western states while cocaine and heroin are used more in the East. [continues 323 words]
The recent debate over Hawai'i's new law to provide a treatment alternative to prison for nonviolent drug offenders, and Prosecutor Peter Carlisle's assertion that only six of the 3,920 inmates in Hawai'i's prisons would be appropriate for such a program, indicate some confusion about the relationships among drugs, crime and incarceration. Perhaps a look at the numbers can clear things up. The following information from the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics Web site ( http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs ) highlights some of the latest and most detailed information on drugs, crime and the prison population. [continues 523 words]
Honolulu had the highest percentage of crystal meth-amphetamine use among men arrested on the island compared with 30 other U.S. cities last year, and police say people hooked on "ice" have contributed to Hawai'i's high rate of thefts. Nearly 40 percent of the men who were arrested by the Honolulu Police Department from January 2001 to September 2001 tested positive for crystal methamphetamine, according to the national Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring program, which is overseen by the U.S. Department of Justice. [continues 884 words]
Honolulu Outpaces 36 Other Big Cities In Its Incidence Of 'Ice' Use Among 37 major metropolitan areas, Honolulu has the highest percentage of arrested males testing positive for crystal methamphetamine, according to a recent report from the U.S. Department of Justice. Between January 2000 and September 2001, 35.9 percent of all males arrested in Honolulu tested positive for crystal methamphetamine, also known as "ice." No other city approached 30 percent. Cities participating in the survey ranged from New York City and Philadelphia to San Diego and Seattle. [continues 413 words]
If Prime Minister Goh wants to reinvent Singapore, a good place to start would be with its judicial system. A few years back, when President Clinton's plea for clemency in the caning of Michael Fay was refused, many Americans concluded that justice in Singapore was too harsh and too stupid, so forget about it. It hasn't changed. They are still caning prisoners. A quick look at the Internet at various sites such as the MSN Singapore punishment site will give a graphic description, including photographs of caning. [continues 91 words]
I'm a student from Kailua High School who would like to thank all those who helped with the passing of a bill relating to drug rehabilitation. I have done research in Waimanalo on what residents think are its problems. The community feels that drug abuse is the biggest problem. By passing the bill we feel the state has done something to crack down on druggies and to get help for those already in jail. Thank you, Senator Bunda, for recognizing the needs of my community. Joshlin Lindsey [end]
The time of accountability for Hawaii's 'marijuana eradication program' has come. Horrible social, economic and environmental damage have grown for decades on the manure of prohibitionist media and journalism, DARE misinformation, police propaganda and the lack of a 'mandatory program review.' It's time to take a good, hard look at what's going on here, and repair it now for our healthy and prosperous future. Reported and many more unreported incidents of heavily armed and violent, ninja-clad robbers looking for 'medical marijuana,' Forbes magazine declaring doing business in Hawaii is akin to 'economic suicide,' statewide poverty, the 'ice' epidemic, poisoned gardens, post-traumatic stress disorder from a terrorized rural populace, the exodus from here to anywhere - - all of these and more are examples of unintended consequences of the state's marijuana eradication program, now in its 30th year. [continues 360 words]
Gov. Ben Cayetano is reported to be ready to sign a bill today that would offer drug treatment to non-violent first time offenders of drug-related crimes in lieu of jail time. The goal of the bill is to ease the overcrowding in the state's prisons. Some 300 prisoners might be released once the bill is in place. The bill is being driven by the fact that the state is facing lawsuits over overcrowding in prisons. The cost of the drug treatment programs are about half the cost of sending someone to prison, according to retired Circuit Judge Masato Doi. [continues 208 words]
The Governor Argues The Move Can Safely Ease Prison Crowding Gov. Ben Cayetano wants to release several hundred inmates early to relieve prison overcrowding and get some prisoners into drug treatment programs. Prison officials said earlier this week that they were looking into releasing about 300 low-risk inmates early. "As far as I'm concerned, that number that they have recommended is a little too small," Cayetano said yesterday after signing a bill that requires probation and drug treatment instead of prison for nonviolent, first-time drug offenders. [continues 599 words]
Cayetano Will Approve The Bill That Will Send Nonviolent Offenders To Treatment Programs An administration bill to divert nonviolent, first-time offenders to drug treatment programs instead of sending them to prison is expected to have the added benefit of helping to ease overcrowding at Hawaii's prisons. The problem of overcrowding has gotten to the point where officials are looking at early release for as many as 300 low-risk inmates to avoid possible prisoner lawsuits stemming from the crowded conditions. [continues 487 words]
A Study Shows That Two-Thirds Of State Prison Inmates Commit New Crimes Within Three Years Of Being Released. THE prison-building frenzy of the past quarter-century may have kept more criminals off the streets, but it did little to rehabilitate them. A study of 15 mainland states by the Justice Department showed that most inmates released from prison commit new crimes within a short time. The study provides further evidence that building more prisons in Hawaii will not deter crime. [continues 365 words]
The government is wasting time and money cracking down on marijuana use. In an opinion issued this week by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which includes Hawai'i, some marijuana-using Rastafarians may be protected under a religious-freedom law passed by Congress in 1993. The case began in 1991 when Benny Guerrero, returning from a trip to Hawai'i was stopped by officials at Guam's international airport. Guerrero evidently attracted the eyes of authorities because he was carrying a book about Rastafarianism and marijuana. A search of Guerrero's luggage turned up five ounces of marijuana and some cannabis seeds. He was arrested and charged with importation of a controlled substance. [continues 487 words]