Lee Cataluna's recent column on legalizing marijuana is right on target. The assertion that marijuana eradication efforts lead to ice use is contradicted by the facts. In 2002, the Hawai'i Department of Health surveyed over 25,000 students in public and private schools. That study asked students how difficult it was for them to get marijuana. Nearly 63 percent of 10th-grade students and nearly 72 percent of high school seniors said it was "fairly easy" or "very easy" to obtain pot. [continues 60 words]
Your June 8 editorial, "Groups should address broad drug strategy," oversimplifies Hawaii's complex substance-abuse problems. You echo the drug legalizer canard that marijuana eradication efforts lead to ice use by creating a shortage of pot. This is ridiculous on two counts. First, what shortage? In 2002, 63 percent of Hawaii's 10th-graders reported that marijuana was either "fairly easy" or "very easy" to obtain. (Source: The 2002 Hawaii Student Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Use Survey.) Second, if the lack of marijuana leads people to use ice, then marijuana is indeed a "gateway drug" and should be vigorously suppressed. [continues 113 words]
In a recent column, Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Constitution claimed the "overzealous war on drugs ... has fostered one of the world's highest rates of incarceration while having no discernable effect on the flow of illegal drugs." As Tucker knows, or should know, this is simply not true. Since the 1980s we have been waging a very successful struggle against drug abuse in the United States. Between 1979 and 2000 the number of drug users in America declined by 45 percent. Cocaine use in America declined by 75 percent. Adolescent drug use in 2000 was almost half the level of 1979 (2.3 million youth vs. 4.1 million). (Source: Office of National Drug Control Policy, see their Web site, www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov . [continues 127 words]
Your editorial on Marsha Rosenbaum of the Drug Policy Alliance betrays a lack of information as to what is going on today in the field of substance abuse prevention ("Teens need better advice about drug use than 'Just Say No,'" Star-Bulletin, Nov. 28). There is a large and growing body of social science research on what works and what does not in prevention. The prevention field advanced years ago from the scare tactics and "just say no" approaches that Rosenbaum denounces. A variety of research-based prevention programs is available to schools and communities that seek to shield youth from the dangers of drugs and alcohol. [continues 84 words]
There is much sad truth in Mike Coleman's recent column on the deplorable conditions in America's prisons. Unfortunately, Coleman begins his piece with the inaccurate claim that our prisons are full of nonviolent victims of the so-called "War on Drugs." According to the latest statistics, more than half of state prisoners are doing time for homicide, rape or other violent crimes. Another 40 percent are recidivist career criminals who may have gotten probation on their previous offenses but ended up back behind bars. [continues 133 words]
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. [continues 101 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 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]
