[House Hearing, 108 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
THE POISONING OF PARADISE: CRYSTAL METHAMPHETAMINE IN HAWAII
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE,
DRUG POLICY AND HUMAN RESOURCES
of the
COMMITTEE ON
GOVERNMENT REFORM
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
AUGUST 2, 2004
__________
Serial No. 108-276
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Reform
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/congress/house
http://www.house.gov/reform
THE POISONING OF PARADISE: CRYSTAL METHAMPHETAMINE IN HAWAII
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE,
DRUG POLICY AND HUMAN RESOURCES
of the
COMMITTEE ON
GOVERNMENT REFORM
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
AUGUST 2, 2004
__________
Serial No. 108-276
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Reform
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/congress/house
http://www.house.gov/reform
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
98-604 WASHINGTON : 2005
_____________________________________________________________________________
For Sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; (202) 512�091800
Fax: (202) 512�092250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402�090001
COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM
TOM DAVIS, Virginia, Chairman
DAN BURTON, Indiana HENRY A. WAXMAN, California
CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut TOM LANTOS, California
ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida MAJOR R. OWENS, New York
JOHN M. McHUGH, New York EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York
JOHN L. MICA, Florida PAUL E. KANJORSKI, Pennsylvania
MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York
STEVEN C. LaTOURETTE, Ohio ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland
DOUG OSE, California DENNIS J. KUCINICH, Ohio
RON LEWIS, Kentucky DANNY K. DAVIS, Illinois
JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia JOHN F. TIERNEY, Massachusetts
TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania WM. LACY CLAY, Missouri
CHRIS CANNON, Utah DIANE E. WATSON, California
ADAM H. PUTNAM, Florida STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts
EDWARD L. SCHROCK, Virginia CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland
JOHN J. DUNCAN, Jr., Tennessee LINDA T. SANCHEZ, California
NATHAN DEAL, Georgia C.A. ``DUTCH'' RUPPERSBERGER,
CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan Maryland
TIM MURPHY, Pennsylvania ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of
MICHAEL R. TURNER, Ohio Columbia
JOHN R. CARTER, Texas JIM COOPER, Tennessee
MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota
PATRICK J. TIBERI, Ohio ------
KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont
(Independent)
Melissa Wojciak, Staff Director
David Marin, Deputy Staff Director/Communications Director
Rob Borden, Parliamentarian
Teresa Austin, Chief Clerk
Phil Barnett, Minority Chief of Staff/Chief Counsel
Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources
MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana, Chairman
NATHAN DEAL, Georgia ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland
JOHN M. McHUGH, New York DANNY K. DAVIS, Illinois
JOHN L. MICA, Florida WM. LACY CLAY, Missouri
DOUG OSE, California LINDA T. SANCHEZ, California
JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia C.A. ``DUTCH'' RUPPERSBERGER,
JOHN R. CARTER, Texas Maryland
MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of
PATRICK J. TIBERI, Ohio Columbia
BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota
Ex Officio
TOM DAVIS, Virginia HENRY A. WAXMAN, California
J. Marc Wheat, Staff Director
Nicholas Coleman, Professional Staff Member and Counsel
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Hearing held on August 2, 2004................................... 1
Statement of:
Aiona, James R. ``Duke'', Lieutenant Governor, State of
Hawaii..................................................... 15
Botti, Richard, executive director, Hawaii Food Industry
Association................................................ 71
Burnett, Larry D., Director, Hawaii High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Area........................................... 20
Goodwin, Charles, Special Agent-in-Charge, Honolulu Division,
Federal Bureau of Investigation............................ 29
Grey, Briane, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Honolulu
Office, Drug Enforcement Administration.................... 39
Hashida, Grayson, Big Island Substance Abuse Council......... 89
Kamita, Keith, administrator, narcotics enforcement division,
Hawaii State Department of Public Safety................... 56
Kenoi, William P., executive assistant to mayor Harry Kim,
county of Hawaii........................................... 55
Mahuna, Lawrence K., police chief, Hawaii County Police
Department................................................. 65
Salavea, Allen, Office of the Prosecuting Attorney with the
Youth Builders............................................. 91
Wasan, Jamal, Lokahi Treatment Program....................... 97
Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by:
Aiona, James R. ``Duke'', Lieutenant Governor, State of
Hawaii, prepared statement of.............................. 18
Botti, Richard, executive director, Hawaii Food Industry
Association, prepared statement of......................... 73
Burnett, Larry D., Director, Hawaii High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Area, prepared statement of.................... 22
Case, Hon. Ed, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Hawaii, prepared statement of.............................. 11
Goodwin, Charles, Special Agent-in-Charge, Honolulu Division,
Federal Bureau of Investigation, prepared statement of..... 32
Grey, Briane, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Honolulu
Office, Drug Enforcement Administration, prepared statement
of......................................................... 41
Kamita, Keith, administrator, narcotics enforcement division,
Hawaii State Department of Public Safety, prepared
statement of............................................... 58
Mahuna, Lawrence K., police chief, Hawaii County Police
Department, prepared statement of.......................... 67
Salavea, Allen, Office of the Prosecuting Attorney with the
Youth Builders, prepared statement of...................... 93
Souder, Hon. Mark E., a Representative in Congress from the
State of Indiana, prepared statement of.................... 4
Wasan, Jamal, Lokahi Treatment Program, prepared statement of 100
THE POISONING OF PARADISE: CRYSTAL METHAMPHETAMINE IN HAWAII
----------
MONDAY, AUGUST 2, 2004
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and
Human Resources,
Committee on Government Reform,
Kailua-Kona, HI.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:20 a.m., at
Kealakehe Intermediate School, 74-5062 Onipaa Street, Kailua-
Kona, HI, Hon. Mark E. Souder (chairman of the subcommittee)
presiding.
Present: Representatives Souder and Case.
Staff present: Nicholas P. Coleman, professional staff
member/counsel; David Thomasson, congressional fellow; and
Alena Guagenti, legislative assistant.
Mr. Souder. Come to order. Good morning and thank you all
for coming. This hearing continues our subcommittee's work on
the problem of methamphetamine abuse--a problem that is
ravaging the State of Hawaii and the entire Nation. I'd like to
thank Congressman Ed Case for inviting us here to the Big
Island, and for his support for a bipartisan approach to
confronting the meth epidemic.
In 2003, Congressman Case testified before our subcommittee
about the meth problem in Hawaii, and since then we have
frequently discussed ways to help communities like this one to
reduce drug abuse.
Meth is one of the most powerful and dangerous drugs
available. A recent study of the effects of meth abuse using
MRI scans of addicts revealed what one expert called a forest
fire of brain damage. Addicts' brains lose 11 percent of the
tissue in the limbic region, controlling mood and emotion, and
8 percent of the hippocampus region, responsible for forming
new memories, comparable to the brain deficits created by
Alzheimer's disease. Here in Hawaii the form of meth called
crystal or ice is increasing in popularity. It is highly pure
and extremely addictive.
Sadly, meth is also one of the easiest drugs to make. It
can be cooked using common household or agricultural chemicals
and simple cold medicines, following recipes easily available
on the Internet.
The meth here in Hawaii and other States comes from two
major sources of supply. First, meth comes from the so-called
superlabs in California and northern Mexico. By the end of the
1990's these superlabs produced over 70 percent of the Nation's
supply of meth. The superlabs are operated by large Mexican
drug trafficking organizations that have used their established
distribution and supply networks to transport meth throughout
the country.
The second major source of meth comes from small, local
labs that are generally unaffiliated with major trafficking
organizations. These labs have proliferated throughout the
country. The total amount of meth actually supplied by these
labs is relatively small; however, the environmental damage and
health hazard they create make them a serious problem for local
communities, particularly the State and local law enforcement
agencies charged with the duty to uncover and clean them up. In
my home State of Indiana, for example, more than 20 percent of
the labs raided by police were discovered only after they had
exploded and started fires. Children are often found at meth
labs and have frequently suffered from severe health problems
as a result of the hazardous chemicals used in drug
manufacturing.
Our hearings during the 107th Congress were mostly held in
Washington and looked at this problem from a national
perspective. This year, however, we have taken a different
approach. We have instead been holding hearings in specific
regions that have been hardest-hit by meth trafficking and
abuse. In February we held a hearing in northeastern Indiana,
followed by a hearing in Detroit, Michigan, where large
quantities of meth precursor chemicals like pseudoephedrine,
which comes predominantly from Belgium and Holland, were being
smuggled in until very recently. In June we held a hearing in
Bentonville, Arkansas where the use of crystal meth is also
growing rapidly.
Everywhere we go we hear about many of the same issues; the
environmental damage caused by the labs; the high costs and
long hours required for law enforcement agencies to process lab
sites; the heartbreaking stories of children exposed to drugs
and chemicals and in need of emergency medical care and a safe
place to go. We hear about how addictive and deadly this drug
is and how difficult it is to provide treatment and get meth
users off of drugs.
The Bush administration, and especially the Office of
National Drug Control Policy [ONDCP], has pushed for strong and
effective action against meth abuse. We will need to take
action at every level, Federal, State, and local, to respond to
this problem. Let me briefly mention three issues that need to
be addressed.
First, what do we need to do to reduce the supply of meth?
In the late 1990's the Federal Government responded to the meth
problem both here and elsewhere with stricter laws against the
precursor chemical trade and tougher enforcement. The
proliferation of smaller meth labs, however, means that we
probably will have to further restrict the ability of meth
cooks to get precursor chemicals--especially pseudoephedrine.
Already many States have acted to restrict sales of cold
medicines and other pseudoephedrine sources. A major question
Congress must address is whether to enact a national standard
for these sales, and if so, what form should it take?
Second, how should we deal with the environmental issues
created in the wake of a meth lab seizure? We have to ensure
that the toxic chemicals produced and dumped by lab operators
are cleaned up, but these criminals rarely have enough money to
compensate the government for those costs. If we impose the
costs on unsuspecting landowners or landlords, however, we may
give them a disincentive to monitor their property and report
suspicious activity to the police. In California, for example,
some farmers prefer to bury the remains of meth labs they find
on their property because if they report them, they will be
liable for the clean-up costs. We will have to carefully
consider how we assign the responsibility for the difficult and
expensive task.
Finally, how do we get meth addicts into treatment and how
do we keep young people from starting on meth in the first
place? We can all agree that education and outreach are vital,
but the hard part is figuring out what works best. What works
for marijuana, ecstasy or cocaine may not work as well for
meth.
This hearing will address these difficult questions and
hopefully bring us closer to some answers. Again, I thank
Congressman Case for inviting us here, and for the assistance
that he and his staff provided to our subcommittee in setting
up this hearing. Our first panel of witnesses begins with the
distinguished Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii, James R. Duke
Aiona who together with Governor Linda Lingle has provided
strong leadership in this State on drug abuse issues.
We next welcome three witnesses who have joined us to
discuss the Federal Government's response to the meth problem:
Mr. Larry D. Burnett, Director of the Hawaii High Intensity
Drug Trafficking Area [HIDTA], administered by the White House
Office of National Drug Control Policy [ONDCP]; Mr. Charles
Goodwin, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Honolulu
division; and Mr. Briane Grey, Assistant Special Agent in
Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Honolulu
office.
At a hearing like this, it is vitally important for us to
hear from the State and local agencies forced to fight on the
front lines against meth and other illegal drugs. We welcome
Mayor Harry Kim of the County of Hawaii; Mr. Keith Kamita,
Chief of the Narcotics Enforcement Division of the Hawaii
County Police Department; and Mr. Richard Botti, Executive
Director of the Hawaii Food Industry Association.
We also welcome four witnesses whose work in the field of
drug treatment and prevention is of vital importance here in
Hawaii: Dr. Kevin Kunz of Kona Addiction Services; Mr. Wesley
Margheim of the Big Island Substance Abuse Council; Mr. Allen
Salavea of the Hawaii County Prosecutor's Office's Youth
Builder's Program; and Dr. Jamal Wasan of the Lokahi Treatment
Program. We thank everyone for taking the time to join us this
morning and look forward to your testimony. Now to Congressman
Case for an opening statement.
[The prepared statement of Hon. Mark E. Souder follows:]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T8604.001
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T8604.002
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T8604.003
Mr. Case. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Good morning and
aloha to all of you. It's good to be back home on my home
island. Even under these difficult circumstances it's good to
be here and to be with you and to address the crisis that we
all face together.
I want to tell you just a little bit about what is actually
going on here today. This is the U.S. House Committee on
Government Reform's Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug
Policy and Human Resources. Now, that's a fancy way of saying
that this is the subcommittee, in all subcommittees in the U.S.
House, is the subcommittee responsible for criminal justice and
drug policy. It's kuleana is all of our Federal Government's
law enforcement efforts, especially as they deal with drugs. So
we have right here the subcommittee, the place in the U.S.
House that's responsible for formulating overall policy.
And it's a tremendous opportunity for us to say to the U.S.
House and to the U.S. Congress and to our Federal Government
both what our problems are, what our needs are, and what we
offer to the rest of our country much less to our State. And
it's a very great pleasure for me to introduce my colleague
Congressman Mark Souder from Indiana. And I want to tell you
just a little bit about him so he's more than just Mr. Chair
here today.
Congressman Mark Souder was born and raised in Ft. Wayne,
Indiana. He is the chair of this subcommittee so he's the guy,
he's the guy that's responsible for this stuff and is going to
be making decisions in conjunction with his colleagues. He
still represents Indiana's great Third District, which is
headquartered right around Ft. Wayne, so he's born and raised
and representing exactly the district that he grew up in just
like I am. He attended Notre Dame so if you want to talk
football with him, I'm sure he'd be happy to do that.
He went to work in Congress just like me, caught the bug,
was a business person in his other life, and he is now
finishing his 10th year in the U.S. House and has been very,
very involved in the drug policy. You will see that in some of
his questions, some of his testimony, he knows what he's
talking about. He worked in this area, he cares, he is the best
that Congress has to offer to our country.
He also serves on some other committees as most of us in
Congress do and he's out here working in many different hats.
Congressman Souder also serves on the Natural Resources
Committee. He has a special interest in our country's national
parks and national wildlife, fisheries and is on those
subcommittees.
Yesterday, he spent the entire day touring our national
parks and national historic areas. I guess I can say this. He's
going up and spending some time at Hawaii Volcanos National
Park and maybe, if there's time, he's going to spend some time
in the rest of our beautiful island.
He also serves on the U.S. House Select Committee on
Homeland Security which is a crucial topic of discussion in
Congress today, especially with the issuance of the 9/11
Commission report and the President's endorsement of many of
his recommendations this morning.
So he has spent time with our military, he's spent time
with homeland security. He's wearing many hats. Today he's
wearing the hat trying to help us with ice. So I really want to
recognize and send a very warm aloha to Congressman Souder. I
do have a little present for him here and he can open it later,
but it's a very nice aloha shirt to go with the one he has on
right here for the remainder of his time out here in Hawaii.
Thank you very much, Congressman.
I also want to recognize the ranking minority member on the
subcommittee Elijah Cummings of Maryland who has demonstrated
an equal interest in this and this is a bi-partisan/nonpartisan
effort. You know ice and other drugs don't care what party
you're in. They don't care what district you represent, from
whatever parties. We all work together on this.
Thank you very much, Chairman Souder.
On behalf of all of my over 600,000 constituents of
Hawaii's great Second Congressional District, and for all of
the people of Hawaii, I am especially pleased that my home
island of Hawaii is hosting this hearing today.
We in Hawaii share many of the same concerns as others in
our Nation in regard to the urgent need to support drug
control, education, prevention, and treatment efforts,
especially those dealing directly with the scourge of crystal
methamphetamine or ice. However, our geographic isolation, not
only from the contiguous United States, but also just in terms
of the isolation of the ``Neighbor Islands'' from Oahu, as well
as a number of other unique factors, not the least of which are
our ethnic and cultural diversity, create unique challenges
that we need to address here. So we deal with the big picture
of ice with everybody else in our country, but we also deal
with unique circumstances that we face right here.
Of course, general drug abuse has plagued many of our
communities for decades. And to target what is needed to
prevent this abuse now and in the future, we have to first
understand what causes it and then focus our efforts on
overcoming those causes. And uniquely, it is, in fact, up to
our Federal Government to take the lead on this issue as it is
the only effective entity with the resources and the scope and
ability to coordinate the indispensable multi-pronged approach
to stamping out drug abuse. So I commend this subcommittee for
taking the lead.
Let's be clear first. We know that the roots of drug abuse
lie largely where educational and economic opportunity are
lacking and the social and community fabric are torn. Thus, in
the big picture and long term, our best overall efforts to
stamp out drug abuse lie in fixing our economies and improving
our schools and strengthening our families and communities.
But where drug abuse has taken hold there are four basic
causes. First, insufficient education of our young people on
the danger of drugs before they start. Second, law
enforcement's inability, often because of lack of resources to
catch, prosecute, and lock up the worst offenders, the dealers
and the manufacturers. Third, a community's lack of community-
wide involvement in prevention and elimination. We cannot do
this alone. It takes a community. And fourth, a lack of
sufficient social local rehabilitation programs to give abusers
a second chance and bring them back into society. If we do not
rehabilitate abusers, keep up with them, we keep on creating
the significant consequences of ice abuse.
All of this is true in spades with the drug we face most
directly and critically today, ice. It is truly poisoning
paradise as we know it.
Hawaii was one of the first places in our country where the
drug made its appearance back in the mid 1980's so it is not a
new drug here. Due to its highly addictive properties, as it is
almost 90 percent pure in this form, Hawaii now has the
Nation's highest rate of adults who have tried ice. There are
many other statistics and they're in my testimony, but we can
see the link between ice and homicides, ice and child abuse,
ice and property crime. Perhaps one of the most alarming
statistics is the reach of ice down to our young people.
I spent time with the police, local police, on the Island
of Lanai, just three, 4 days ago. What I try to do is get out
and spend time. And we were hanging out at the end of the day,
talking on the front porch of the Island of Lanai's police
station which is about the size of one-fifth of this room.
And basically, they said they've seen it down to 12-year-
olds on the Island of Lanai. That is unbelievable.
So this scourge is an absolute top priority in Hawaii's
immediate drug elimination efforts. On education, our schools
and communities are increasingly focusing on working with our
youth to show the devastation that ice can cause and is
causing. Our law enforcement community is starting to focus
much more on attacking ice dealers. All of our needs now
include some elements of rehabilitation.
Most encouraging, we now see our communities standing up
and saying no to ice. This is happening on all of our islands.
Kahaluu on the Island of Oahu was the first community to hold
ice breaker meetings, a drug response plan formed on the county
of Kauai to implement a community-wide approach, the Coalition
for a Drug-Free Lanai with its recent second year grant from
the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Over in Wailuku on
Maui, Thursday we will be visiting a fantastic effort over
there to take on ice at the community level.
And here on the Big Island Mayor Kim, with his great
assistant, Billy Kenoi, who is here with us today spearheaded a
unique coordinated islandwide attack on ice. And we see many of
our communities sign waving on Hugs Not Drugs. That's what it's
going to take, but we do need much more.
The FBI and the DEA who are with us today and care very
much about this need, I believe, to station a permanent agent
on each of our counties on the ground where we do not have a
Federal presence in order to focus Federal law enforcement
efforts on ice.
With our congressional delegation, we've advocated for
increased funding for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area
which we will hear from today. The Weed and Seed Program is so
successful throughout our country and through the First
Congressional District. And general coordination is always
welcome.
To sum up, we in Hawaii, one of the hardest hit areas of
our country with this incredible ice epidemic do, in fact, face
a crisis. We have the will to address it, but we need help from
our Federal Government. We need more Federal law enforcement at
the county and local level. We need preventative education, and
we need effective rehabilitation.
Chair Souder, I thank you, again, for bringing the
subcommittee here. I thank all of the witnesses for your
participation. I thank the audience for your participation and
for many of you in the audience, in fact, all of you for your
hard work, we will, in fact, accomplish this together. Mahalo.
[The prepared statement of Hon. Ed Case follows:]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T8604.004
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T8604.005
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T8604.006
Mr. Souder. Let me explain a little bit about the process
of how we do our hearings. As Congressman Case mentioned, this
is a part of the Government Reform Oversight, which is
historically what's known as the Oversight Committee. We've
changed the name of the reform because when we do oversight, it
isn't just to have a hearing. It's trying to figure out what
we're going to change in the administrative capacity.
What's unusual about this subcommittee is we also have
authorization over narcotics issues including the Drug Czar's
office, and so we need both legislative and oversight and also
share the speakers drug task force.
Each witness will have 5 minutes.
We have a light that's supposed to work that will be green
for four, yellow for one, red a little more generous, meaning
another 60 seconds to a few minutes, if your statement doesn't
work within the 5 minutes. It gives us a chance to ask
questions, get some interaction.
Each witness, as you'll hear when we go through the
procedures, has the ability to submit additional information.
We want anything you make a reference to to get into the
hearing record because ultimately this will be a hearing book.
And in the process of doing this, there is a series of hearings
in Washington and California and other places over the last
couple years.
People can look through it and say, OK, how are they
tackling the meth issue and what information is there. So if
you refer to something, it will be good to get a copy of it
later to put into the hearing record. Also, we may submit
additional questions as we review it and as we look at some
things to you to put into the hearing record. If any
individuals have something they want to submit, either submit
to our staff here today or Congressman Case's office, we can
get that into the record as well.
Let me first go to procedural matters. I ask consent that
all Members have 5 legislative days to submit written
statements and questions to the hearing director. Any answers
to written questions provided by the witnesses are also
included in the record. No objections, so ordered.
Second, I ask that all Members present be permitted to
participate in the hearing. Without objection, so ordered. Now,
because we're an oversight committee, the oversight being
Congress, we're the only one that actually swears in its
witnesses. Historically, we haven't had to do much with that,
but we had a few hearings where, in fact, we did.
This committee has heard everything from Whitewater to
China investigations to Waco to all of those kind of things,
and it's important that each witness understands that it's not
just testifying, this is actually oversight to see the laws are
there so we swear in each witness. So if you would each raise
your right hand.
[Witnesses sworn.]
Mr. Souder. Let the record show that each of the witnesses
responded in the affirmative. We appreciate your willingness to
come and we're going to start with the distinguished Lieutenant
Governor of Hawaii, the Honorable James Aiona, and we
appreciate your long-time leadership.
STATEMENT OF JAMES R. ``DUKE'' AIONA, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR,
STATE OF HAWAII
Mr. Aiona. Thank you, Chairman Souder, and of course,
Congressman Case for this opportunity to address you on this
matter. I have submitted testimony in this case and if you
don't mind, I'm going to supplement that. I'm not going to read
my testimony. I'm going to supplement it.
I do want to give you a little perspective, and for the
record, my background, so you'll understand where I'm coming
from when I make my comments.
First of all, I'm a father of four children. My oldest is
21, my youngest is 12. I've been a coach in the community, both
on the high school level and on the youth level for the past
20, 25 years.
I was a prosecutor when I first came out of law school in
1980 and I was a prosecutor in the career criminal unit for
about 3 years. I then went to the city Attorney's Office. Then
in 1990 I was appointed to the Family Court bench and served
for about 2\1/2\ years, was elevated to the Circuit Court bench
and served on the criminal calendar for about 4 years and about
1\1/2\ to 2 years of that I was the first administrative judge
to the Drug Court Program here in Hawaii.
I then went back to Family Court and I've been a lifelong
resident, except for my studies up in Stockton, California, for
all of my life. So I think I understand the community and where
we're at at this point in time in regards to this problem
methamphetamine.
When I was a prosecutor in 1980, methamphetamine was first
making its move into the island, so to speak, in a powder form
known as crank. And subsequently, it has now materialized into
what we now call ice or ``batu'' and there are many names for
its form right now.
But what I have seen is I have seen the proliferation of
it, not only in the courtroom, but also in the community, I
think, simply, because of a couple of things.
First and foremost in the 1980's when cocaine was the No. 1
drug of choice in Hawaii, 1970's and 1980's, we saw what law
enforcement did in choking off the supply, not necessarily
arresting people and putting them in jail and making that a
deterrent, but basically attacking the supply. And it really
choked it out to a significant degree. And this same high that
people had been getting in cocaine they were now seeing it
happen in methamphetamine and I saw the proliferation happen.
I think as a result of the fact that methamphetamine is
something that's manufactured, it's very difficult to eradicate
simply by attacking the supply. So as such, what I've seen in
the courtroom has been devastating. As you stated and as
Congressman Case stated, we've seen the devastation of families
and children and everything else that could possibly happen.
I think it all lined up in the stars for me. It was truly
God's blessing that I was elected to this office and as such
Governor Lingle has charged me with the task of addressing this
issue. And as such what we did repeatedly was we went out to
the communities to get their input. And what really happened
with that was basically two-fold. At that point in time when we
got elected back in 2002, I think the community at that point
in time had really seen enough of what was happening with
methamphetamine.
So the level of awareness and making it known to everyone
in the community had risen to, I would say, beyond belief. And
we had community meetings, as Congressman Case noted, in
certain communities where they would go out and wave signs,
they had rallies, etc., just kind of slow hauled to approaching
the whole island.
So we went out to the community, the administration did, in
talk story events such as this, and just got feedback from
them. And then in September last year we had for the first time
ever what we called a Drug Summit in which we brought as many
participants as possible in the provider field, in law
enforcement, in the community, etc., to basically come up with
some recommendations that they felt were needed. And we adopted
at that point in time a drug control strategy which basically
is similar to the national policy which is prevention and
intervention. So we basically adopted that, we got the
recommendations from the community and right now we are in the
middle of our working groups, we're calling them ad hoc
committees, in which they are developing action plans for the
prevention, for treatment, for law enforcement, for what we
call community mobilization and also a coordinating branch.
Now, that's very important because probably the biggest
feedback we got from the community was the fact that there was
a lack of collaboration and coordination amongst our various,
not only State agencies but also our Federal agencies. People
were duplicating services, there were gaps in the services,
money was being ineffectively used and deficiently used. And so
as such a big recommendation was to have some kind of
coordinating committee or person to deal with all of these
issues. And we did that in January of this year by appointing
what we've called a drug liaison in the Lt. Governor's office.
So we are on the verge right now of basically bringing
together all of the people I had mentioned, the ad hoc
committees, with their--what we're calling, their action plans
and having them submitted to us for implementation.
I would also note that what had happened is we've stepped
up our efforts with regards to youth programs. We've stepped up
our efforts with our underage drinking because we really
believe that leads to it. We've stepped up our efforts in
regards to educating not only our children but also the public.
I think you're going to hear testimony of how our Narcotics
Enforcement Division has gone out and educated a lot of people
in regards to the meth labs and the effect that it has and the
harm it has done in the community. And so what we've done is
we've really brought it out.
I've been fortunate to be appointed to the National
Advisory Committee of SAMHSA, which you well know has been a
great partner with us. They have provided technical assistance
at almost every request that we've made, whether it be in
grants, whether it be in setting up these ad hoc committees
that we've now set up. During our Summit they've given us some
support in regards to educating our public with meth labs and I
can't say enough what SAMHSA has done for us.
I do want to put a plug in, though, for something that is a
tremendous breakthrough in regards to treatment; and that is
this new initiative called Access to Recovery. I know that the
Bush administration had requested about $200,000,000 and
Congress had only appropriated $100,000,000. Nevertheless, I
think it's something that needs to be looked at very carefully.
I can see nothing but good things coming out of it, and I
really hope that Congress when that budget comes up again, that
they will give them a real hard look and really support that
effort.
If you talk to the people in the community, people in the
profession, I should say, they're going to tell you that Access
to Recovery really is revolutionary in regards to what it's
going to do and what SAMHSA is doing. SAMHSA is, and I agree
wholeheartedly with what they're doing, they are now basically
going out and coordinating with the States, going from the
executive office, and not putting money out there for various
treatment programs, but more or less building systems, working
the interagency relationships between service providers,
nonprofits and then, of course, on the law enforcement side
working it that route.
At our last council meeting we found out that they have now
partnered with various branches within the Federal Government
which would includes ONDCP, Justice, Department of Health and
Human Services.
I know I've gone over my time, I thank you very much, and,
of course, I'm open for questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Aiona follows:]
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Mr. Souder. Thank you. Second witness will be Mr. Burnett,
head of the HIDTA Hawaii.
STATEMENT OF LARRY D. BURNETT, DIRECTOR, HAWAII HIGH INTENSITY
DRUG TRAFFICKING AREA
Mr. Burnett. Chairman Souder, I would like to take this
opportunity to recognize you and Congressman Case for your
outstanding work in the area of drug law enforcement. As HIDTA
director, I've had the opportunity to work with you and your
staffs on drug issues, both, domestically and internationally.
You're untiring efforts are greatly appreciated.
The commitment of Congressman Case to the methamphetamine
epidemic in Hawaii is evident today by holding this hearing in
your home State. Congratulations.
Mr. Chairman, as I mentioned in my written statement, the
State of Hawaii and U.S. territories of the Pacific are
currently under attack from crystal methamphetamine, commonly
called ice. The rampant abuse of crystal methamphetamine along
with the violence and dangers associated with the drug is the
single most significant drug problem affecting the State.
That's a point that cannot be overemphasized.
As you're aware, based on the crystal methamphetamine
epidemic and other criteria, Hawaii was designated a HIDTA in
1999. HIDTA designation brings with it and it provides a
catalyst for genuine coordination and cooperation among
Hawaii's law enforcement community. Resources donated by
participating agencies are formed into investigation and
interdiction strike forces, intelligence gathering groups, and
support initiatives. By sharing strategic and tactical
information, the Hawaii HIDTA provides a comprehensive response
to illicit drug activity by bringing together all available law
enforcement resources in a united front.
For our purposes here today Hawaii's drug abuse problem can
be categorized probably in three tiers and that's how HIDTA
looks at it. In the first tier are the two drugs that are
causing the most serious problems, that's crystal
methamphetamine and marijuana. Arrest and seizure data for both
these drugs indicate that availability is high. Demand data
suggests that use of both drugs, along with the consequences of
that use, is high and increasing.
The second-tier drugs are cocaine, which is usually crack
cocaine here, and heroin.
Cocaine-related arrests and seizures are on an upswing but
demand data suggests the opposite, the declining prevalence and
consequences of use. At the same time heroin distribution and
abuse appears to be diminishing as indicated by the declines in
arrests, seizures, and reports that we see.
And the third tier are drugs such as MDMA, GHB, steroids,
ecstasy, and diverted pharmaceuticals. They are available and
abused in Hawaii but to a much lesser extent. The focus of
third-tier drugs appears to be among young party club goers and
the younger members of our military.
Hawaii is both a destination and transiting point for the
West Coast, the mainland United States, Canada, Mexico, and
Asia. Hawaii is also a source of high potency marijuana to the
U.S. mainland, Canada, and, even to a lesser extent, for
Mexico.
International and local drug trafficking organizations have
ample opportunity to traffic drugs to, through, and from the
area because of Hawaii's high volume of international and
domestic air and sea traffic. The Hawaii HIDTA's primary goal
is to disrupt and dismantle these organizations.
For fiscal year 2005 law enforcement organizations will
contribute a total of 311 full- and part-time law enforcement
personnel to this effort. I would also like to comment that
regrettably there remain at this time legal and legislative
barriers that sometimes impede the ability of law enforcement
to effectively combat the drug problem. For example, evidence
obtained from Federal wiretap and consensual encounters remain,
at this time, inadmissible in Hawaii courts, in the State
courts. As a result many lower level drug distributors who do
not meet Federal guidelines, they go unprosecuted in the State
system. It is not uncommon to find individuals with 30-plus
arrests still free on the streets.
Our outlook, I think you will find that coordination and
cooperation among Hawaii's law enforcement agencies is at an
all time high. Hawaii remains a target rich environment. We
believe the maritime seizures of illicit drugs will increase
with the implementation of the Maritime Transportation Security
Act. And although its primary purpose is to counter terrorism,
it will have a fall-out effect on the drugs.
We are hopeful that proposed legislation will be enacted to
bring State wiretap laws into line with the rest of the
country. The Hawaii HIDTA's and its participating member
agencies will continue to devote resources to identify,
investigate, disrupt, and dismantle the organizations
responsible for the spread of methamphetamine across Hawaii and
our country.
Thank you for this opportunity to testify before the
subcommittee. I will be happy to answer questions at the
appropriate time.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Burnett follows:]
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Mr. Souder. Thank you very much. Our next witness is Mr.
Charles Goodwin, special agent-in-charge, Honolulu office, for
the FBI.
STATEMENT OF CHARLES GOODWIN, SPECIAL AGENT-IN-CHARGE, HONOLULU
DIVISION, FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
Mr. Goodwin. Good morning, Chairman Souder, Congressman
Case. Thank you for inviting here today to speak to you on the
problem of crystal methamphetamine trafficking and abuse here
in Hawaii.
I also appreciate the opportunity to comment on the FBI's
efforts in partnership with other Federal Government agencies
and State and local authorities to address the battle against
drugs and ice here in Hawaii.
First, I want to emphasize that the FBI remains committed
to the fight against illegal drugs in Hawaii and working with
you to put the drug trafficking organizations out of business.
As you're all aware, though, through law enforcement reports
and the news media, ice continues to rank as the most widely
abused illicit drug in Hawaii. Much of the ice abuse in Hawaii
is attributed to the drug trafficking organizations which have
strong ties to both domestic and international organized crime
enterprises.
Although the FBI Honolulu Division continues to investigate
drug trafficking organizations using the Enterprise Theory of
Investigation; that is, to seek the dismantlement of the entire
criminal organization and not just individual members, we are
doing so with a lot less manpower resources.
After September 11, 2001 the FBI with the blessing of
Congress reallocated several hundred Special Agents working
drug investigations to counterterrorism and other investigative
programs.
This decision was done clearly out of necessity and it
provided the Counterterrorism Program with some of the best
investigators in the FBI. In response to this move, the FBI
Drug Program bolstered its presence in Hawaii on the High
Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, Organized Crime Drug
Enforcement Task Force and other task forces as a force-
multiplier.
Part of the reasoning behind the reallocation of FBI drug
investigative resources was the realization that there are
thousands of other highly committed, qualified, experienced
State and local law enforcement officials engaged in drug
investigations. At the Federal level, the DEA, Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, IRS, ATF, U.S. Coast Guard are all
valuable assets in the war on drugs.
The FBI, however, is not abdicating its commitment to drug
investigations. In the meantime the FBI continues to
concentrate the vast majority of our FBI drug agents on
dismantling the largest drug trafficking organization and
criminal enterprises, those identified by the Attorney
General's list of 41 Consolidated Priority Organization
Targets. We also remain committed to the national programs,
OCDETF and HIDTA, as well as major joint intelligence efforts
in Hawaii. Bottom line, the FBI remains committed to working
with you in this fight against illegal drugs.
Ice is the drug of choice in Hawaii. The sale and use and
transportation of ice in Hawaii has had a devastating impact on
all of Hawaiian society. As we are acutely aware, ice tears
away at the inner fabric of Hawaii. It brings violence to our
streets, wastes young lives, wreaks havoc on families, saps
millions of dollars from our economy, and drains the resources
of our criminal justice and health care systems.
Drugs such as ice make criminal enterprises across the
country and around the world richer, stronger, and more
formidable.
The specific statistics on how crystal methamphetamine
affects the overall crime issues is staggering. An estimated 90
percent of property crime in Hawaii is believed to be drug-
related. In addition, many homicides and other violent crimes,
including hostage situations, have been associated with ice. In
2002, U.S. Attorney, Ed Kubo stated that ice had been
associated with over 90 percent of the confirmed child abuse
cases. Recently, news articles in Hawaii have reported that
assaults on police officers have increased fivefold over the
past 5 years and that the violence associated with ice abuse is
a contributing factor to that increase.
The widespread use of ice has also deeply hurt the economy
and social image of Hawaii. Several studies done by
universities have reported that Hawaii authorities have spent
close to half a billion dollars per year on corrections,
education, and counselling, and other programs relative to the
ice problem. There are as many as 30,000 ice users in Hawaii
who spend between $540 million to $1.8 billion annually on
their habits. Many researchers also believe the manufacturing
and usage of ice is having a detrimental effect on the
environment.
Here in Hawaii the problems with ice transcends beyond the
typical street dealers. The FBI, in cooperation with other law
enforcement agencies, has determined that the ice problem
extends to international boundaries and have strong organized
crime ties. In Hawaii, traditional Asian organized crime
organizations distribute ice. Today, Mexican drug trafficking
organizations and other criminal organizations are becoming
increasingly more involved in the production and distribution
of ice.
In fact, our intelligence indicates that most of the ice in
Hawaii appears to be produced in Mexico and California. Mexican
drug trafficking organizations transport ice to Honolulu, Maui,
and other Hawaiian counties from California and to a lesser
extent, Las Vegas. Some Asian trafficking organizations, such
as Filipino, Vietnamese, and Korean organizations transport ice
to Hawaii via Canada and California to avoid potential customs
and border patrol inspections conducted at Hawaii ports of
entry such as the Honolulu International Airport. Hawaii law
enforcement estimates a large percentage of the ice in Hawaii
is smuggled through the airport via mailed parcels and couriers
on commercial flights. We've also intercepted shipments
arriving by shipping containers from the mainland which are not
searched.
I'm going to jump ahead here because I've clearly run out
of my time, but the main thing the FBI, the strategies that we
use to fight drugs here in Hawaii, continue to direct
appropriate investigative and analytical resources to address
the threats posed by priority targets; encourage the use of
Title IIIs, criminal pen registers, and subpoenas; encourage
the use of complex undercover operations; maximize the use of
specialized drug intelligence sources to fully develop
investigations of drug trafficking enterprises; consult with
respective counterparts in DEA to confirm investigative efforts
are not being duplicated and to identify opportunities for
joint initiatives and investigations.
We want to ensure that appropriate deconfliction is shared
through data bases; ensure initiation and coordination of
multi-jurisdictional investigations; ensure investigations are
initiated against priority targets posing the greatest threat
to the Honolulu Division and Hawaii which are multi-
jurisdictional, regional, and national significance. We want to
actively participate in ad hoc task forces such as HIDTA
initiatives. And with that I'll conclude my testimony and
certainly be available for questioning.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Goodwin follows:]
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Mr. Souder. Thank you very much. Our last witness on the
first panel is Mr. Briane Grey, Special Agent in Charge,
Honolulu Office, Los Angeles Field Division of DEA.
STATEMENT OF BRIANE GREY, ASSISTANT SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE,
HONOLULU OFFICE, DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION
Mr. Grey. Chairman Souder, Congressman Case, and
distinguished members of the subcommittee, it is a pleasure to
appear before you today. On behalf of the DEA Administrator
Karen P. Tandy and Los Angeles Field Division Special Agent in
Charge Stephen C. Delgado, I would like to thank this
subcommittee for your continued support of the DEA and its
mission.
While Hawaii has always been viewed as a paradise
destination, it currently has the distinction of being No. 1
per capita for crystal methamphetamine use in the United
States. The spread of crystal methamphetamine use has long been
a problem for the Hawaiian islands and the user population
continues to grow due to its highly addictive nature.
Crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as ice, is the No.
1 drug threat in Hawaii, Guam, and Saipan. In the last 2 years
Hawaii has seen a significant increase in the amount of crystal
methamphetamine being distributed and seized.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration's Treatment Episode Data Sets, treatment
admissions for methamphetamine abuse in Hawaii increased from
1,243 in 1998 to 2,238 in 2002. This rate has steadily
increased. In 2003, Hawaii was the only State to have crystal
methamphetamine treatment admissions exceed alcohol abuse
treatment admissions.
In Hawaii ice abusers have been linked to violent crimes
including child abuse, hostage situations, and homicides. Ice
abusers are also linked to Hawaii's high property crime rate
which is one of the worst in the Nation. Methamphetamine and
the violence associated with the drug threaten the well-being
of all of Hawaii's citizens, continue to challenge all law
enforcement, health care, and social services entities within
the State. This epidemic is fueled by the ever increasing
number of drug trafficking organizations associated with larger
organizations in Mexico and the U.S. West Coast.
Ice production and distribution first appeared in Hawaii in
1985 and is associated with Asian drug trafficking
organizations. To avoid Hawaii's strict U.S. Customs and Border
Protection inspections, Asian organizations routinely
transported drugs from source countries such as Korea,
Thailand, and the Philippines through Canada to Hawaii via
California. In the 1990's the trend shifted. Mexican
organizations became the principal ice suppliers in Hawaii.
The DEA has recently and successfully emphasized
investigations targeting the flow of precursor chemicals used
to produce methamphetamine. Due to the successes of OCDETF
investigations Operations Mountain Express III and Northern
Star between 2002 and 2003, U.S. importation of bulk
pseudoephedrine from Canada dramatically dropped. These
enforcement successes at the Northern border have forced
traffickers to import pseudoephedrine to Mexico from Hong Kong,
increased methamphetamine manufacturing in Mexico.
Presently, Mexican organizations are producing ice in
Mexico, California, and southwestern States and use their
established transportation networks to distribute the drug
throughout the United States and the Hawaiian islands.
Clandestine superlabs located in Mexico and the southwestern
United States are responsible for most of the ice distributed
in Hawaii.
Through DEA's State and Local Task Force Program and the
HIDTA program, the DEA Honolulu District Office has joined
forces with our State and local partners to address
methamphetamine-related trends from large Mexican trafficking
organizations down to small-time producers operating out of
their homes. In March 2004, an investigation with the Bureau of
Customs and Border Protection, the DEA Airport Task Force
seized 20 pounds of crystal methamphetamine concealed inside
aluminum pipes sent from an individual in Mexico to Honolulu,
as well as $200,000 in proceeds. At the other end of the chain,
in February 2004, the Maui Post of Duty arrested an individual
with 15 grams of ice who was prosecuted federally who allegedly
supplied high school students and was the source for other
dealers on Lanai since July 2003.
The Honolulu District Office has DEA Task Forces in Maui
and Hilo and at the Honolulu Airport. This team effort has led
to significant investigations allowing law enforcement to
jointly attack crystal methamphetamine trafficking.
A joint investigation between the DEA and Honolulu Office
of Immigration and Customs Enforcement led to the February
seizure of five gallons of red phosphorous in the possession of
a Canadian citizen. The subsequent investigation identified the
individual as a methamphetamine chemist who was responsible for
the distribution of the approximately 30 to 40 pounds of ice
per month in 2002 and early 2003. This investigation eliminated
a clandestine manufacturing operation based in Canada.
More recently, the DEA with State and local officers seized
1.8 kilograms of ice shipped from California to Kihei, Maui and
1.44 kilograms of ice from two individuals arriving in Honolulu
from Las Vegas, Nevada. Our Guam office also seized 200 grams
of liquid methamphetamine sent from the Philippines to Guam.
The DEA is committed to protecting the American public's
safety from the serious consequences resulting from the
methamphetamine threat. The DEA has had a significant impact on
the trafficking of precursor chemicals and continues to target
Mexican trafficking organizations controlling the majority of
the methamphetamine produced and distributed in our country.
Thank you again for the opportunity to testify before the
subcommittee today. I will be happy to answer any questions at
the appropriate time.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Grey follows:]
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Mr. Souder. I thank you each for your testimony. Let me say
that it's unusual; I've never done this with a lei before, let
alone without a tie. I appreciate Congressman Case because he
wore a lei, actually, when he testified in front of the
committee in Washington. I just want everybody back in Hawaii
to know that he's very consistent in making statements for his
home State and his concern on this issue and I appreciate it.
There are a number of things in your testimony that are
dramatically different than what we've heard elsewhere. I want
to make sure that I highlight some of these, both FBI, DEA, and
I know from talking to HIDTA that you've said this, too, but I
want to highlight this, 90 percent of property crime is
believed to be drug related, 90 percent of child abuse, I
believe you said Mr. Goodwin, was methamphetamine, crystal
methamphetamine related, assaults on police officers increased
fivefold over the last 5 years.
So am I taking from that the associated crime and violence
from meth, even if meth has been a historic problem, has
jumped?
Mr. Goodwin. I think that's a fair assumption and I think
it's pretty well based on both reports from the media and
police reports. The incident of violent crimes actually in
Hawaii is, we believe, down somewhat. But those assaults, for
instance, aggravated assault, assaults on police officers and
those personal types of crimes and certainly property crime has
continued to be on the rise, and we do believe it's directly
attributed to the methamphetamine problem.
Mr. Aiona. As far as the child welfare cases and our
collection of the statistics on the State level, I can't say
that we have had the best collection system of data available.
I think the number that you got is an estimate based on field
interviews and response from social workers who are in the
field and on the line and reporting back as to what they've
encountered most recently. I think that's within the past few
years. And I think it's a good assessment. I don't know if it's
accurate, but I wouldn't say that's----
Mr. Souder. Hard.
Mr. Aiona. Yeah, hard facts.
Mr. Souder. Now, when you were in Family Court, what we've
heard around the country is anywhere from 60 to 85 percent of
all court cases in crime has some nexus with marijuana,
alcohol, usually poly users and then to meth, which would
include child support enforcement, divorce cases, and spouse
abuse.
Is that true here as well? Is it usually poly drug, and
here what seems to be more of a relationship with crystal meth
is a higher percentage?
Mr. Aiona. Again, I don't have any hard data on that, but
from my experience I would agree with that wholeheartedly, poly
substance or multi substance abuse, you're correct. In Drug
Court that's all I saw. Methamphetamine was usually the drug of
choice, it usually was, but they'd mix it with marijuana and
alcohol and cocaine and everything else you can imagine, so
yes, that's an accurate statement.
Mr. Souder. Mr. Burnett, when we talked the other day, one
of the things that we were discussing was how the relationship
of marijuana to some degree alcohol with crystal
methamphetamine and the coming down process.
Could you describe that, somebody maybe high on ice and
then come down with marijuana?
Mr. Burnett. I assume you're speaking of the tweaking
process?
Mr. Souder. Right.
Mr. Burnett. When individuals get high on ice, especially
smoking in the form that we do here in Hawaii, it's an
immediate rush and it's an extremely high high and a prolonged
high. It lasts for a long time. But in order to maintain that,
there is always the opposite side, like anything else, and it's
called tweaking where you start to twitch and go into a deep
depression.
And with ice, and that's part of the problem with violence
that is associated with it, you go into a real deep depression,
emotionally and physically. And what we see here is that they
use marijuana and other drugs in order to mitigate that and try
and even out that experience and try to take the edge off of
the depression.
Mr. Souder. Have any of you seen any ice users who didn't
use marijuana and/or alcohol.
Mr. Burnett. I'm sure that there is somewhere. What we
normally say with our statistics is that almost everybody that
tests positive, and that's 40 percent of the males that are
picked up for any crime in the State, that's the highest in the
Nation, 40 percent test positive for meth. And when they test
positive for meth, they are poly drug users. It's usually
accompanied by alcohol and marijuana.
Mr. Souder. I want to pursue another round of questions
before I go to Mr. Case. I want to pursue the Canada question a
little bit. First off, one other thing I want to note for the
record is several of you said, and I thought it was very
helpful to understand, the historic ties to Asia which is the
way we normally think of this, it would have not been self
evident that Mexican drug trafficking organizations are taking
over the meth in Hawaii. Walking around and talking to people
you would not assume that's your major challenge.
Also, for the record, you're saying that there are fewer
meth labs because normally in all the other States and we're
talking Tennessee, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Indiana which
are the five highest, we're talking labs, even though we have
these superlabs in California, and here you're basically
talking about it coming in and then being turned into crystal
methamphetamine. Is that correct?
Could you explain to me as someone who sits both on Border
Committee on Homeland Security and has oversight here and we
spent a couple years working on border issues, what do you mean
by this statement?
And you made this Mr. Goodwin and Mr. Grey made a similar
and actually, even more specific statement about how the meth,
crystal meth, comes in through Canada sometimes through
California and you made the statement to avoid strict custom
and border patrol inspections conducted in the Hawaii ports of
entry?
And I believe you had a case, Mr. Grey, where you talked
about a recent one where a person came in, Canadian citizen
came in with five gallons. That wasn't UPS or Fed Ex which most
of them are, but could you describe what you mean by they can
get in through Canada easier than Hawaii?
Mr. Goodwin. First of all, we mentioned that we know the
large quantities of drugs, first of all, come through Mexico
and so they'll move through Mexico to the West Coast and then
can be transhipped to Hawaii.
We also see precursors coming out of Asia as well. And in
both cases they can ship product to Canada and then move it
over land to California or Nevada to move it to Hawaii. And
coming from the West Coast to Hawaii, they're not subject to
customs inspection.
Mr. Souder. Even from Canada.
Mr. Goodwin. Well, if they tranship it from Canada to
Nevada, for instance, or California, and then ship it out, then
it doesn't get looked at coming from the West Coast, the United
States, to Hawaii. Now, in theory you would look at it between
Canada and the United States, but the reality there is it's
pretty much an open border.
I'd like to also just mention as we talk about more and
more methamphetamine produced in the United States. But also
being produced in big quantities in Mexico, moved to the West
Coast and transhipped. The other thing we're starting to see
is--we've always seen precursors coming from the Far East, but
just recently, for instance, the Australian Federal Police
brought a case to us. It was a superlab that they had
interdicted in Fiji and it looked like a portable cement mixer.
It was about three stories high and was capable of producing $1
billion a year worth of methamphetamine.
Now, in that particular case it was destined primarily for
Australia and New Zealand and other Pacific Rim countries. But
once something like that is established there, moved through
Guam and Saipan, it would be pretty easy to ship it to Hawaii
as well.
Mr. Souder. I'm going to come back for another round on the
Asia side, but I want to do one more thing coming from our
mainland West Coast this direction. One of the things we
documented over and over, we're having a huge problem with
hydroponic, we'll talk about marijuana in just a minute, but
the cocaine coming up from Columbia and then meth going up
California, across the Washington border swapping in British
Columbia, then coming down and they get their cocaine, heroin
coming north bringing the hydroponic seeds or marijuana or meth
precursors down.
And what you're telling me is the route isn't usually
Canada to here. What we're seeing is the swapping of the
cocaine and heroin we're seeing in California going north is
coming down from Canada, sometimes from Asia, sometimes from
Belgium, and the Netherlands, which are still the biggest labs.
Then they swap them and then they go Las Vegas or western
California are the most logical places and then head this way
and your meth problems are directly related to marijuana and
cocaine problem going on the Coast because they're swapping it
out.
Is that a fair statement, accurate? Any comments?
Mr. Grey. Yes, I think that's an accurate assessment. For
swapping the drugs in the State of California.
Mr. Souder. Or Washington State?
Mr. Grey. Washington State. I think the key is getting it
into the United States once it clears the border there, they
don't have to go through another critical inspection prior to
getting it over to Hawaii. And again, they're not talking bulk
shipments. It can be a pound at a time, five pounds, easily
able to go on a person's body, Fed Ex shipments are small, air
cargo freight shipment, so the detection would be much less
than if it was going across the open port.
Mr. Souder. It is certainly identified in the Yakima area
of Washington State a swapping area in Yakima, the Tri Cities,
that's going heavy into the Midwest as well with fighting
traffic and going to Georgia and finding swaps that are
occurring up in that region going north and south of
California.
Mr. Burnett. That's exactly right, Chairman.
What has happened is a lot of the nations out in the
Pacific, both Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong when Hong
Kong was handed back to the mainland Chinese, they all belonged
to the Commonwealth, the British Commonwealth, and as such they
can travel amongst the Commonwealth with relative ease.
So you have a mass migration of Chinese into British
Columbia and they bring with them their ties from Asia. And
there is a criminal group that is attendant with all parts of
society, and so not only did you get the business but you also
got the criminal group that preyed upon them that also went to
British Columbia.
Then you couple that with the northern border, and as
you're saying, as you start moving east along the northern
border, there is a million and one roads where they move all
the brain trucks back and forth.
So it is a pretty porous border. And then when it comes
into Washington, the loads get broken down. And why risk 100
pounds of meth going to the Midwest or going to Hawaii or Guam,
it's easier to break them down into one to two pound parcels,
put them in Fed Ex, U.S. Postal Service, DHL, all of those
services, and flood the market. All you have to do is look at
our system we have out here. We have both a domestic and
international mail branch and they handle millions, millions of
pieces every month.
Mr. Souder. Congressman Blackburn is on this subcommittee
and we're planning to do probably either late fall or early
next year, the Fed Ex headquarters in Memphis.
Mr. Case. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm going to come back to
one question at the end for each of you, and I'd like to ask
the same question of everyone else that is going to testify;
and that is, this is your Federal Government. Maybe we don't
look like, at least he does, maybe I don't.
This is your U.S. Congress, and if you had one thing to
ask, one thing to ask of your U.S. Congress today to deal with
meth from the perspective that you take it from, whether it's
law enforcement, rehabilitation, preventative education,
whatever, what is that one thing?
Let me leave that for you to think about, and let me ask
you because I'm back to the front porch of the Lanai police
station after a long day with the police officers, County of
Maui police officers, by the way, that are on the front lines
and dealing with how to go after the manufacturers. And I asked
them what's really what you need.
And I'm going to paraphrase the answer, but what it came
down to was we don't have the tools, the law enforcement tools
to catch them. They're moving too fast on us. They mostly come
in from the outside.
They come in by airplane, they come in by ferry, they come
in by jet skis to the north shore, at least this is what they
think, and they set up operations and they identify pretty
fast. The Lanai population is 2,500 to 3,000. Everybody pretty
much knows what's happening.
But by the time they can get the legal enforcement
mechanisms in place to bust them, these guys have sold it and
left the island; or what they told me was the old concept of an
ice house is fast disappearing. They're really much more into a
mobile operation where the dealers and sellers are one step
ahead of the law. And what they have said is that the State law
enforcement mechanisms aren't fast enough to give them the
ability to bust them.
So therefore, what they are doing is they're basically
skipping the State and going to the Feds because of the
mechanisms of their rules and their inabilities there to
respond a lot faster. Now that strikes me as an action of
necessity but not a particular course of action. We clearly
want both sides, both Federal and State ability. And it seems
to me that stretches even more the Federal law enforcement
system.
One of you alluded to Federal guidelines for--so you may
get the most immediate, and that lets those 30 people go back
on the streets. And it goes back to the point I made earlier
which is we either need more Federal law enforcement officials
on the ground in Hawaii, and especially in my Second
Congressional District, and/or we need somehow to fix the State
mechanisms so the State law enforcement can take some of the
load off of you, the Feds, who are stretched out with ice,
other forms of drugs, not to mention civil law enforcement, not
to mention homeland security obligations.
So I guess I want to ask you is that something that is true
throughout the State, No. 1; No. 2, what are the solutions
because it seems we need to fix the State law enforcement
mechanisms and/or No. 2, put Federal law enforcement out there
in the communities.
Maybe I can start with you Lieutenant Governor because I
think that has been an initiative by the Governor to move these
kind of reasonable modifications to State laws.
Mr. Aiona. You call it reasonable, but obviously there are
some people who don't feel that it's reasonable and as such we
haven't had much success with the legislation that we proposed,
especially this past legislative session. What we did propose
were a couple of things.
First of all, we wanted to bring back the walk and talk
issue; in other words, what we wanted to do was amend the
Constitution for the execution of the walk and talk--the tool,
if you want to call it, law enforcement has successfully used
back in the 1990's on the local level, on the State level.
And then, of course, our electronic surveillance of laws,
what they're calling the adversarial process; in other words,
how we're going about getting wiretaps, etc. by local law
enforcement personnel.
The other thing that we tried was to have a little bit more
mandatory sentences in regards to people who had been using or
dealing--that's an issue, when it comes to what amounts, to
dealer quantities, but we had pushed for more stringent
sentences, so to speak, in regards to that. Unfortunately, like
I said, there was resistance on that. There were people that
felt that it--one, it was too invasive, it was a violation of
civil rights, they felt it shouldn't happen here in Hawaii. And
of course, it became to a certain extent a policy issue in
regards to emphasis being placed maybe more on treatment, as
opposed to intervention.
And so what had happened as a result of that is you had the
continuation of what we're calling act 161 which basically
allows someone who has a previous arrest who now has a current
arrest for a drug-related offense to undergo treatment and be
placed on probation. And that, again, like I said, was a policy
question that we were dealing with. We weren't in favor of
that. The administration definitely was not in favor of that.
Being a proponent of Drug Court, we felt that Drug Court
provided that access to treatment and yet at the same time
provided enough of the hammer, so to speak, to deal with that
problem.
So your assessment of what you said I agree with it, but I
don't agree that we should go more Federal law enforcement. I
think if you talk to everyone who is going to come up here this
morning, they're going to say we have tremendous collaboration.
Mr. Burnett said and we have to continue it. And I think
everything has to shoulder that burden, so to speak, on an
equal basis, if not more so the State, as opposed to the
Federal Government.
The FBI, for instance, doesn't only deal with drug
enforcement, it deals with terrorism and everything else we
have going on in this region. So their resources would be
better used, I would say better used, but you can see the
balance that they need.
Mr. Case. That's true in an ideal world. In an ideal world
we would have a State law enforcement mechanism where you
could, in fact, go after people with alacrity and commitment,
but there are handicaps. Representative Voight comments on
that.
But I guess what I'm trying to get at here is if we can't
get there, and this is a policy determination made by the local
Governor and State legislature, if we can't get there, which I
think we should, I agree with you, I agree with you, then we
got to do something. And I don't know where else to go because
there is a whole level that's not being caught here under the
circumstances.
Mr. Aiona. And I want to make one last comment, if I can,
Congressman. Having HIDTA is obviously an advantage for us, but
that's also a designation that I would prefer to have in this
jurisdiction and I'll leave it at that.
Mr. Case. We want to get to the next panel. A quick comment
by you on what is the one thing you would ask Congress, just a
quick comment on the----
Mr. Burnett. About the State and local?
Mr. Case. Yes.
Mr. Burnett. It is a real problem for us, inasmuch as--I
made the comment about individuals and it is very common to
have individuals out there with 30 arrests and still out loose
in the neighborhoods. And these 30 arrests are not like they're
simple possession charges. We don't go after those kind. These
30 arrests are assaults. We have burglaries. We have larcenies.
They have welfare charges against them from our State child
endangerment. It's a critical problem for us and we need the
State to be able to step up to the plate and do their job.
By the same token, from our standpoint, a standpoint where
we organize strike forces and task forces, it is much easier to
commingle and build a task force if we have those Federal
resources on the ground, although our Lieutenant Governor might
be without a job. I'd probably give that up and get rid of it
as an issue here. I'd gladly give it up. I have grandkids and
kids that live here and work here.
It is important, I think, to have the Federal resources, at
least as a minimal amount, both here on the Big Island and on
Kauai where they're totally lacking.
Mr. Case. One thing from Congress.
Mr. Goodwin. I can't say anything in just one thing. I want
to comment that we've got great cooperation and coordination
with the State and Federal authorities here. The reason they
really like having the Feds here is because of our ability to
do wiretaps and our search and seizure and also the minimum
sentencing guidelines. When we send somebody away for 15 years,
they're gone.
Mr. Case. I think the other comment, again from the front
porch of Lanai, is that the Federal court system moves a little
faster in terms of dealing with it.
Mr. Goodwin. We do want resources and from our standpoint,
from the FBI's standpoint, nearly 600 bodies have been
refocused from drugs. And drugs really--here in Hawaii, in
particular, I mean it's a nationwide problem, but it really
does tear up the fabric of the society. And that's the one
thing I wish, I could put two more people in Hilo, in addition
to the two in Kona, and put somebody on Kauai and place them
where they're needed to further foster the spirit of
cooperation and coordination that we enjoy in Honolulu and here
in Kona, Hilo, and Maui.
Mr. Case. What do you want.
Mr. Grey. Similar to that, I would agree resources is a big
issue here, but I think more importantly, let's not forget,
we're a user State being targeted both by Mexican traffickers
and Asian traffickers; and that with the identification in
Hawaii as a paradise, we have the same problems here, if not
more so, than the rest of the United States.
So we're in this matter with you and take that with you to
get the support and resources out here.
Mr. Case. I want to make sure I get the Lieutenant
Governor.
Mr. Aiona. Of course there are many things on the wish
list, Congressman, but I would like Congress to really raise
the bar, raise the standard, as far as the substance abuse and
the effect it has on our family, to raise it not the top 10
percent, within the top 2 percent; and of course, with that it
comes from policy statements, but I think some commitment to
resources, a lot more than what's been happening now.
And I really believe that Access to Recovery initiative as
being proposed by SAMHSA at this point in time is something
that I really, really would like is, more money. Thank you.
Mr. Goodwin. Just what you're doing right now, hold
hearings, find out what's effective. In this time of tight
budgets, make sure that what we are doing is prioritized and we
get the information to your subcommittees as quick as possible.
Mr. Souder. I want to make sure we get a couple of
additional things in the record. My understanding was Hawaii
has the highest prices for meth.
Mr. Burnett. If you look at prices on the West Coast, the
rule of thumb is that Hawaii is about double the West Coast.
Guam and Saipan are and some of the territories of the Pacific
are about double here.
Mr. Souder. And as I recall, you were telling me that one
of the reasons you see the Mexican trafficking organizations
moving in this direction is they can make more money.
Mr. Burnett. That's correct.
Mr. Souder. I also understood concerning marijuana, that
we're not even talking about what we're seeing on the West
Coast. My understanding is some of the THC is up to 40 percent,
that 20, 30 would be----
Mr. Burnett. THC, marijuana historically has been fairly
low, 5, 6, 7 percent. We've intercepted seeds like you were
talking about coming out of Canada, cross-pollination. Our
growers here kick back seeds to no one. I can tell you that
right now. We seized 200 tons of pot out of the State last year
and kept it from going to, basically to the mainland.
We have seen some hydro plants that have done as high, I
believe, I'm aware of about 28 percent THC, but that's about
the highest. I think Chris Tally was talking to you at a
meeting before where something was higher, but I'm not sure
exactly the lab report. That's the highest one I've seen come
back.
Mr. Souder. 28 percent. So that would be marijuana almost
five times to--because we're not going to spend tens of
millions of dollars here to address one problem because when
you get up to 28 percent higher and you're approaching meth's
impact.
Mr. Burnett. It's a problem and I don't know exactly. We
haven't seen a lot whole of that here. It is a problem.
Mr. Souder. You also mentioned across the board which is
something we don't hear about in the mainland, particularly
when you're from the West Coast or the islands way out there,
the concept of Guam, Saipan, the Mariana Islands, the America
Micronesia, all that type of thing is totally an alien concept.
You're saying you've seen the stuff coming from the Mexican
traffickers, you're seeing historic patterns from Asia, and I
believe that in the superlabs, Mr. Burnett, you expressed some
concern that China was going to basically knock out the
Europeans.
Could any of you elaborate on that and then, Mr. Goodwin,
if you could explain some of the potential how you're going to
watch the organizations out of Indonesia and others who
recently are getting a hold of that drug trade as a means of
financing and Al Qaeda, their sister organizations?
Mr. Burnett. What Mr. Goodwin and the FBI talked about was
this lab that was in the Fiji Islands and it was as big as an
asphalt batch plant. The precipitator on it alone was almost
two stories high. It was massive. And it wasn't only there, it
took off. There are two similar labs in Malaysia and one in
Manila, in the Philippines, and so there are at least four
there.
And each one of those have the opportunity to make about $1
billion in profit for these organizations. And the individual
behind this and the financier was Chinese organized crime so I
mean it's coming. If we get a handle on the Colombians and
Mexicans, you can almost see where the pressure is going to
come from. These guys are organized, and that neck of the woods
is not foreign to the people of Hawaii. That is our ohana. A
lot of the people that make up this unique blend that we have
come from the Philippines, come from Asia, and the Pacific Rim.
Mr. Souder. Not to mention, talk about Vancouver and
Vietnam getting control.
Mr. Burnett. We do see that. We see through our
international branches customs continually picking off
shipments that go from the harvest into the Midwest because
there is a huge population there.
Mr. Souder. Mr. Goodwin, do you have anything to add.
Mr. Goodwin. I wanted to mention in the Fiji case the
precursors also came from China and so certainly China is
really extending its influence through the Pacific Rim as is
Korea and a number of the other countries.
The concern for us in terms of narcoterrorism and financing
is the southern Philippines, Indonesia, some of the largest
groups of Islamic followers, fundamentalists Muslims. And it's
probably fair to say that it's potentially the next big
recruiting ground for Al Qaeda, the J.I., Abu Sayaf which is
already in the southern Philippines and financing drugs and
trafficking drugs, using the same routes that you use now to
move people or to move weapons of mass destruction, that's a
big concern, and it's a big concern for Hawaii, too.
We've recently done a study looking at the Philippines and
Indonesia and the crews that come on boats and the lack of
oversight. We're really drilling down on that right now with
those customs and immigration. So we're identifying through
intelligence and it's some of the new things that we're doing.
Now we're talking a close look at it.
Apparently, it's a problem. But these same routes that you
use to smuggle people and drugs, you could use for smuggling
money and terrorist financing of criminal enterprises.
Mr. Souder. We're not talking high percents here. We're
talking when you have 270 million Muslims in Indonesia, 1
percent is 2.7 million, one-tenth of 1 percent is 270,000. When
you're dealing with 23 million in a country like Iraq or
Afghanistan, it's a totally different base we're looking at.
Mr. Goodwin. And if you look at the level of poverty in
those counties and the lack of any law enforcement, in terms of
recruiting for Al Qaeda and terrorist organizations, it would
be a very fertile ground. People really don't have anything
much to live for there. You offer them an opportunity to make
money through State-sponsored trafficking drugs and the
opportunities are endless.
Mr. Souder. I appreciate all your efforts and Mr. Aiona,
Lieutenant Governor, we appreciate your leadership. One of the
things from the Federal level that we're looking really hard at
it, and this is what's partly disturbing about some of the
State law problems, and that is that we're dealing with. If you
look at the narcotics question to the degree we don't get it on
the ground in Columbia, say coca or the meth labs themselves,
the further we move down into the system, if we fail here and
fail here, by the time we get to local enforcement, we're down
to smaller and smaller cases. By the time we get them into
treatment, that means the system has totally failed them.
They're in treatment, prevention. We're trying to do the
best we can, and we need to get more effective at that. But
there is only a certain amount of dollars that the Federal
Government is going to put in for treatment into the State if
the State won't take the initiative and says, unlike the other
49 States, that we're going to use local law enforcement to go
after this stuff. We'll have the laws--I understand Hawaii has
different traditions and it's a newer State and Alaska has a
little bit of the same questions.
But when, in fact, you say we want to have a cost shifting
from 49 States in the mainland, each State has to take care of
its load, too. We're having this discussion aggressively in
California because they can't say, oh, we need more dollars for
marijuana treatment, we need more dollars for treating meth but
we're not going to take some of the steps with which to address
the question.
And I know you've been an advocate of that, and hopefully,
this hearing helps highlight the interconnection with this
because when we see this is clearly the highest meth use
problem we've seen anywhere in the United States, it should be
a primary focus. Property crime--I mean tourism is your life
blood. Already just coming over here, I'm hearing certain
things about how I you should behave in the car, what to do in
your hotels, where you go. You don't need to have that spread
through the people who are coming to Hawaii.
Mr. Aiona. You're right, you're absolutely right. Thank you
for making those comments. You're absolutely right. Thank you.
Mr. Souder. Thank you very much for coming.
Mr. Case. I just want to recognize, for the record, someone
that is not represented here which you all would agree deserves
recognition and that's our U.S. Attorney's office and Ed Kubo
who has been very much a part of the effort and he deserves to
be recognized. Thank you.
Mr. Souder. If the second panel will come forward;
Honorable Harry Kim who is mayor of the county of Hawaii. And I
understand that means mayor of the city within; Mr. Keith
Kamita, chief of the Narcotics Division, Hawaii Department of
Public Safety; Mr. Lawrence Mahuna, police chief of the Hawaii
County Police Department; and Mr. Richard Botti, executive
director of the Hawaii Food Industry Administration.
[Recess.]
[Witnesses sworn.]
Mr. Souder. Let the record show is that each of witnesses
respond inside the affirmative. We're going to start with
Deputy Mayor William Kenoi, right? Did I get that close?
Mr. Kenoi. Close enough. I'll go with that.
STATEMENT OF WILLIAM P. KENOI, EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO MAYOR
HARRY KIM, COUNTY OF HAWAII
Mr. Kenoi. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Chairman
Souder, Congressman Case, thank you for traveling to Hawaii
Island for your commitment to finding a solution to this
terrible problem.
My name is William P. Kenoi, and I am proud and honored to
serve Mayor Harry Kim and the people of Hawaii Island as an
executive assistant tasked with coordinating the communities
response to ice.
Three years ago we collectively embarked on a mission, to
stem the tide of ice that threatened the quality of life for
our children, our families, and our neighborhoods. We took this
important first step because the data, statistics, and more
importantly, the personal stories were impossible to ignore.
Children were being abused and neglected at an alarming
rate. An increase in amount and severity of domestic violence
complaints; horror stories from the emergency rooms; violence
that stunned the law enforcement community, and a criminal
justice system that was being crushed by ice. It was time to
take action.
Ice has been ravaging our community for between 10 and 15
years. We couldn't talk about this problem anymore. We needed
immediate execution and implementation. This would only be
possible with two key elements; No. 1, broad-based community
support; and two, the commitment of resource providers at every
level.
To this end the Hawaii Island Methamphetamine Summit was
held in August 2002. This summit brought together everyone in
the community, business, government, community members, elected
officials, unions, churches, cultural groups, nonprofits, law
enforcement, treatment specialists, and prevention and
education people. This collaboration and focus was
unprecedented in Hawaii.
Why did the community rally and the resource providers
commit? Because ice affected everyone in community. No one was
untouched by the terrible effects of ice. Ice brought everyone
in the community to the table to find a solution. The
collective effort has resulted in substantial progress in the
past 3 years.
We knew there was no simple solution to such a complex
problem. However, if we focused on taking small steps hand in
hand with the community, we would improve the health and well
being of the entire community. So our approach was a simple
one; focus on improving our community's capacity in the areas
of enforcement, treatment, and prevention.
We needed to ensure that we didn't just talk about, but
that we actually improved enforcement capabilities, that we
funded increased treatment options, and we provided for
prevention and education that focused on our youth.
There is no denying that ice threatens our future and our
way of life. We lack adequate treatment programs and
alternatives on all islands. We lack treatment options for
those incarcerated for drug offenses. We lack a transportation
system that allows youth and families to access important
programs and services. We lack enough manpower and resources to
our law enforcement community to eliminate ice. But Chairman
Souder and Congressman Case, we do not lack community
awareness, community commitment, and community momentum. And it
is at the community level that we will be successful in
eliminating ice from our islands.
All of us commit to the community that will stand side by
side with them in this effort. There is no alternative.
Anything short of a collective, committed, sustained initiative
we'll fail to save our babies, our children, and our families
from dying and being torn apart. We have no choice in this
effort.
We commit to this effort and support our communities or we
lose everyone we have.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to testify before
the distinguished subcommittee on the U.S. House of
Representatives.
Mr. Souder. Thank you very much. Mr. Kamita.
STATEMENT OF KEITH KAMITA, ADMINISTRATOR, NARCOTICS ENFORCEMENT
DIVISION, HAWAII STATE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
Mr. Kamita. Thank you, Chairman Souder, Congressman Case.
My Federal partners that you've heard before us have gone over
the State's, I guess, methamphetamine problem quite well. I
want to touch on a section that the State is looking at and
basically it's the unlawful manufacture of crystal
methamphetamine here in Hawaii.
What we are seeing is not the big superlabs, but we are
seeing small laboratories, mom-and-pop laboratories, where they
are using every day household products such as pseudoephedrine,
red phosphorous, iodine to manufacture small batches of
methamphetamine which causes just as much danger as a superlab
to the neighbors here in Hawaii.
These laboratories that cook up small batches are posing
just as much danger as these superlabs by dumping their waste
in the ground, by letting and venting their methamphetamine
fumes, I would say, to their neighbors.
In Hawaii, we have had a very little amount of small labs,
full synthesis laboratories where they're using red phosphorous
and iodine, but we have had many conversion labs where they are
bringing in the methamphetamine from California and just icing
it up here in Hawaii.
In Hawaii we have a problem with monitoring certain
precursor chemicals, one of which is pseudoephedrine. Hawaii's
law right now is less than that of Federal law. We do not or we
do have a full exemption on pseudoephedrine and ephedrine
combination products. We are looking toward the Federal
Government and utilizing their laws which do put on some
restriction which is called Safe Harbor Products, anything
which is three grams in a blister pack, such as something like
this that is sold here in Hawaii every day. All of Hawaii's
pseudoephedrine that we're finding in these laboratories are
blister packs.
What we ask of the Federal Government is that you look at
your law regarding blister packs, and hopefully, reevaluate
that these blister packs that are utilized in laboratories they
do not deter the meth user from manufacturing. These blister
packs were made, I guess, as an ease to the consumer. However,
a person on methamphetamine doesn't mind punching out 300 to
1,000 of these tablets, just sitting there and doing it.
The blister pack law, I think, is outdated and that
exemption should be taken away. And to answer your question,
that one thing the Federal Government can do for us, is to
review that law. We don't want to make this a Schedule V
controlled substance. The next best step is to look at some
regulation. And we have worked with small retail shops and our
Long's Drugs and other stores at educating and we did 98
presentations last year, educating both the public and
retailers about the dangers of methamphetamine and how it's
manufactured. We are working with, as a partnership, with Mr.
Botti and some of the other people who are selling these over-
the-counter items.
In ending, that's the one thing you can help us with. Thank
you very much. Any questions, I'll answer later.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Kamita follows:]
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Mr. Souder. Thank you. Chief Mahuna.
STATEMENT OF LAWRENCE K. MAHUNA, POLICE CHIEF, HAWAII COUNTY
POLICE DEPARTMENT
Mr. Mahuna. Chairman Souder, Congressman Case, it's a
pleasure to be here to look at our ice, what I would call,
epidemic. We are a paradise. We have long-standing
relationships. We have ohanas, which means families, that have
been broken apart, families being affected. I've lived in areas
that have been affected by ice houses.
Like September 11, it's changed the course in the way we
travel, ice has changed the course of the way people live in
their own neighborhoods. People no longer can leave their house
unlocked, they can't leave their garage with items such as lawn
mowers and that type of thing. We're seeing an increase in
violence, both domestic violence and violence in nightclubs,
violence in general, violence toward police officers.
So we're, basically, looking at trying to cooperate with
our Federal partners, trying to cope with the lack of personnel
because I think that's one of the ways that the Federal
Government could help, is to help and assist us in having more
FBI agents, more DEA agents, more ATF agents, customs agents
here, because as Mr. Kamita said we don't have these big
laboratories, we have small ones.
And yes, they are as insidious as these big giant labs.
However, what is more insidious is that this drug is a
generation killer. It is not a drug that we can say, well,
maybe we can treat these people and the treatment of these
individuals is not real successful, No. 1; No. 2, when you talk
to child protective people, these people that use ice are one
of the few people that don't want their children back. And
that's what you always find at an ice house.
You'll find living conditions that you wouldn't have an
animal live in, No. 1. You'll find young children. You'll find
poly use of drugs. You'll find at least one or two pregnant
women. You'll find high rates of domestic violence, and you
will have people that are afraid to leave their houses for fear
that either their house is going to be entered and their
valuable items taken. And when we talk about valuable items,
value is based upon what you feel.
I've had a good friend that had poi pounders that are 200
years old that were in the family stolen and sold for $10.
These things are irreplaceable things, these things that affect
the heart and soul of people on this island.
It has affected people from children 12 years old, 11 years
old, as far as selling the drug. We've caught kids on campus
that are 13 years old with 10, 12 grams of ice so they can
sell, and they've been instructed by the parents to go and sell
these drugs because No. 1, if the kid gets caught, he or she
does not face the same kind of penalties as, say, an adult
would selling it in the school.
So we have to set up two task forces in the police
department to strictly look at ice itself, but we have not only
looked at the big organization. One of our issues here is to
dismantle the large organizations, of course. But the other
issue is to take away the social terrorism that our people are
actually involved in day-to-day. And when you live that thing
day-to-day, that is pure terrorism to me. And we ask that the
Federal Government, hopefully, will step up outside of the main
island of Oahu and look at the smaller islands and the bigger
islands and provide us with adequate funds, adequate resources.
And I think it's a holistic way of looking at it.
The community has to get involved and has been involved.
The mayor's office and everybody else, treatment people, the
demand reduction people. So I plead with you to help the people
that have lived here hundreds of years. You're taking away
their source of who they are and what they are and where
they're coming from. Thank you very much.
Mr. Souder. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Mahuna follows:]
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STATEMENT OF RICHARD BOTTI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HAWAII FOOD
INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION
Mr. Botti. Thank you, Chairman Souder and Representative
Case for the opportunity to testify before your subcommittee.
I'm the President of the Hawaii Food Industry, a trade
association, representing over 225 of Hawaii retailers,
distributors, and suppliers of food and related items.
I'm here to express our concerns about the placement of
pseudoephedrine on Schedule V where commonly sold medicine
products would be required to be placed behind the pharmacy
counter, sold only by a pharmacy and customers would be
required to show identification and sign a register when they
made the purchases.
Retailers would be forced to eliminate the variety or
products and customers would be denied access and availability.
Most store do not have a pharmacy, thus Schedule V would mean
that most over-the-counter cold and allergy medicines could not
be purchased at airports, hotel gift shops, convenience stores,
or any other retail outlet that does not have a pharmacist on
duty.
Schedule V would also present a public health problem
because it would limit the amount of medicine that families can
legitimately purchase in 1 month. Because there is no central
recording of all pseudoephedrine purchases in the State, this
provision will be impossible to implement and law enforcement
would have difficulty enforcing the law without going store to
store to compare names in the log books.
Schedule V will have no impact on internet sales of
pseudoephedrine. FDA and U.S. Customs have testified before
Congress that they are able to inspect less than 5 percent of
drug packages that go through U.S. Postal facilities from
overseas.
Schedule V places an unfair burden on retailers and their
employees, most of whom are trying to do the right thing.
We agree that our industry has a responsibility to help in
this crisis we face. We are taking action. Without the
placement of pseudoephedrine on Schedule V, the Hawaii Food
Industry is supporting what we call Meth Watch that started in
Kansas 2001 and has a proven track record of success with the
reduction and sales of pseudoephedrine for illegal purposes.
It has reduced the number of meth labs in the State. It has
also resulted in dramatic reductions in the theft of products
used to make meth.
Most important, it addresses a larger problem.
It involves the whole community, law enforcement,
retailers, business leaders, and citizens through the education
and prevention efforts and it appears to be having an impact on
actual meth usage.
There is, however, an important element that law
enforcement needs; that is, a list of all retailers that sell
targeted products. For this reason we support the registration
of all retailers in the State who sell OTC or over-the-counter
drugs, medicines, that contain pseudoephedrine. This will
provide law enforcement with an accurate list of where the
medicines are being sold. Comparing this list with distribution
data that is available under Federal law will allow law
enforcement to determine whether stores are selling excessive
amounts.
HFIA acknowledges that serious action must be taken to
prevent the diversion of precursor chemicals to meth labs, and
we want to be a part of the solution. There are less
restrictive alternatives to Schedule V that include many of the
things that I mentioned at the beginning of my testimony.
Demand reduction, prevention, education and partnerships with
law enforcement will serve the community at large. There is
much that we can do to reduce the meth problem in this State
without placing unreasonable burdens on consumers to purchase
the medicines they need and on the retailers who provide them.
Added to our testimony I would like to include what we will
do without a law and the logo for the Meth Watch program that
is taken off from the Kansas City one. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Botti follows:]
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Mr. Souder. Thank you each for your testimony.
I think I'm going to start backward with the Meth Watch
program and tying this in with the blister pack question. Then
I'll move to Mr. Case and come back to Mr. Kenoi. One of the
things the Big Island received--let me start with this.
Did the grant that came in the appropriations process come
to the Big Island directly? Was it solely for this island? What
amount did you get in the appropriation bill? Was it $5
million?
Mr. Kenoi. Last year it was $4 million. It went to the
Hawaii Community Foundation to administer.
This year it's $4.5, but it's going to be--last year we
received for the Hawaii Island meth initiative, we received $4
million. That moneys went from Department of Justice to the
Community Oriented Police and Services Program to the Hawaii
Community Foundation for a couple of reasons.
One, they had the grant making capability to administer a
broad-based initiative that included enforcement, treatment,
and prevention. Two, they had a long-standing commitment of
grant making to the community, grass roots level, and for their
reputation for honesty and integrity. Hawaii County,
unfortunately, didn't have the administrative capability to
administer this grant.
We were fortunate enough to secure a second round of
funding, but that second round of funding in the amount of $4.5
million will be shared equally amongst Kauai, Maui, Molokai,
Lanai, and Hawaii Island. And in the spirit of aloha we are
happy to share that with our fellow residents because everybody
in Hawaii is suffering from this drug.
Mr. Souder. And in this drug plan you gave me, does it have
a split out of what you did with the $4.5 million.
Mr. Kenoi. There is a breakdown. That was done before we,
actually, issued all of the moneys, but I broke it down exactly
how we did.
What we did, just general for you, Mr. Chairman, is $1
million went to enforcement. Under that enforcement 525,000
went to HPD. We created an ice task force in east and west
Hawaii. We created an anti-smuggling unit here on Hawaii Island
based on west Hawaii because of the amount of drugs that are
coming in, being targeted to Hawaii with the direct flights
from international, as well as source city destinations on the
West Coast.
We also used that money under the enforcement arena, gave a
couple hundred thousand to the Prosecutor's Office to have a
drug prosecutor designated in both east and west Hawaii so that
all of the cases that were being generated by HPD could be
addressed at the Prosecutor's level.
Another couple hundred thousand went to the Judiciary and
the Hawaii Island Drug Court both in east and east Hawaii so
that there was an alternative to incarceration for those who
wanted and needed treatment. So that was the enforcement
component.
Under the treatment component we, actually, put $1.5
million into treatment; $500,000 went equally to every
treatment provider around Hawaii Island, $100,000 a piece, not
for existing treatment but for each of the programs to expand
treatment services on the island.
A million dollars that was in the treatment balance went to
the establishment of an adolescent residential treatment
program for Hawaii Island. What we found out, Chairman Souder,
was that all of our adolescents who need high end treatment
were being sent off island to Maui, Kauai. We were sending
teenagers as young as 13, pulling them out of their
communities, away from their schools, away from everything they
knew, and sending them without any support to a residential
program off island.
We had been doing this for decades, failing miserably at
it. And we didn't want to just take our kids, stick them in a
home, give them a drug counselor, and say now you have
residential treatment, we did our part. We felt like if our
children are our most precious resources, then let us give them
the best possible residential program we could. To that end, a
million came out of this grant; 900,000 came from SAMHSA.
Mr. Souder. That's on top of the $4.5 million.
Mr. Kenoi. Yes, on top. And we were able to secure $300,000
from the State legislature last year for a total of $2.2
million and that program just opened a couple weeks ago in
Laupahoehoe, 14 acres. It's a community-based, culturally
based, and experientially based program so that our kids are
active, they're participating in cultural programs, they're
using the ocean, the land to help them heal.
So we're really proud of that initiative, taking that step,
because people said it's out of your area of jurisdiction, it's
out of your area of expertise, and you have no money, you're
reaching too far. We said if we fail, we fail, but we've got to
try. So we were able to pull that together.
The other 1.5 went into prevention and demand reduction.
And what we did was we went around the island and we held grant
seminars and grant workshops and we wanted to get the balance
of the resources into the community and asked existing programs
and service providers to come forward and submit grants as to
how they would utilize recreational, cultural, art activities
for youth as a way to reduce the demand for crystal meth and
ice. And these include island-wide mentoring programs,
supplementing the Boys and Girls Club. And we did this island
wide because we have a 4,028 square mile island populated by
150,000 people lacking in an adequate transportation system.
So given that we couldn't do one or two programs. We'd have
to do programs in all of our communities.
So we set up an independent review panel and we asked
people to solicit and provide technical support.
Mr. Souder. Did you say $2 million for prevention.
Mr. Kenoi. $1.5.
Mr. Souder. $1.5 in three categories.
Mr. Kenoi. Yeah, and included in the 1.5 for prevention is
the administrative costs, the evaluation costs to understand if
we're achieving our outcomes, do we have measurable outcomes,
are we achieving our goals and objectives.
Mr. Souder. And were those 12 month programs, had to be
done within 12 months, or----
Mr. Kenoi. We got an extension. It was Federal moneys that
came down, we got it announced, President Bush post September
11 didn't sign any of the budgets except defense appropriations
and so everything went back, it's on the omnibus bill, then it
came out, then DOJ, and Department of Justice----
Mr. Souder. It's basically 12 months. You didn't ask people
for like a 3-year prevention program.
Mr. Kenoi. Yeah, we asked people for 1 year with the
understanding that we'll probably stretch this money over 2
years because it's a model program. It hasn't been done
anywhere else in the country. As you know, DOJ top moneys are
enforcement based usually resources and we asked DOJ to help
us, work with us and let's make this an across the spectrum
program, and they've been very cooperative at the Federal
level.
There was hesitancy on their part initially like what is
this adolescent residential treatment. This is Department of
Justice moneys. What is this island-wide mentoring program so
the youth can connect with the career or vocation or
opportunity; how does that relate to drug abuse and we had to
go and explain using the data that we had that we can't just
hire more police officers, we can't just build more prisons. We
got to reach our children. We got to reach our families.
Mr. Souder. How many people are there on the Big Island.
Mr. Kenoi. Approximately, 150,000. I've heard from 148 to
162, somewhere thereabouts.
Mr. Souder. One of the reasons we need to have good
monitoring is to see some reaction. This grant is the biggest
grant that's gone anywhere in the United States for meth. The
standard is a million, and those usually cover whole States;
that $4.5 million for 150,000 people means it's less than half
the size of my hometown. It's less than half the size of some
of my rural counties, and it's less than half the size of two
other counties I have.
This is incredibly intensive dollars in a problem to
address the meth, particularly when you add in 900,000 SAMHSA
on top of it and you're trying to do it in 12 months because
often this size grant would be over 3 years in an area that may
address 3 million people.
And so if you don't see some results that are fairly
dramatic, it calls into question whether money is really going
to have much of a reaction.
Now, the adolescent youth facility, there the $2.2 million
was allotted in the structure, was it?
Mr. Kenoi. It was both CIP, as well as operational.
Mr. Souder. What would you say was the split of those
dollars?
Mr. Kenoi. We issued our request for proposal, we're
talking 300,000 CIP, the rest operational. Now, the cost for an
adolescent for treatment is between 275 and $325 per day, per
bed. So just an 8-bed residential facility, it's $100,000 per
bed per year to treat one of our children for dramatic
substance abuse addiction. So it's $800,000 for 1 year just
operational because when you're dealing with adolescents,
you're dealing with 24-hour care, 7 days a week, both
educational care, healthcare, and substance abuse counseling so
it's rather intensive and costly.
And that's the reason we haven't had--if you're on the
mainland and you need residential treatment, your parents can
drive 2 hours to see you, to support you. Here, you're sent on
an airplane that's very expensive, and you might not be seen by
your family or friends for another 4 or 5 months.
It was something we needed to do to step up. I mean how can
we say we have the highest rate of crystal meth abuse and
substance abuse in the entire Nation and we ask our children to
step forward and ask for help and when we do so, we pull them
away and send them away.
That caused incredible damage and it really makes a farce
of any initiative. You cannot say we have the highest rate of
substance abuse of our adolescents, ask for money based on that
statistic, and then when we get those resources, we say, oooh,
it's too expensive, it's a high risk investment.
Mr. Souder. For example, in Montana where you have people
spread out 1,200 miles, they can't stay in their home area.
Now, it is different moving islands and the cultures are
difficult, and I understand that, but it's not like in the
mountain West we don't have similar things. If somebody from my
district needs adolescent care, they may have to go a minimum
of 6 hours to the other end of the State, for example, and I'm
in a pretty heavily populated area.
I agree it's a little bit more of a mental challenge
because I'm trying to get adjusted as I've been here to this
concept of ex-pats, people who have left here when you say you
don't have job opportunities for young people to stay on the
islands and they want to stay on the islands, it's like, well,
that's true in every State because less than 40 percent of the
people, sometimes as low as 20 percent stay in their home
State. We're a highly mobile Nation.
But the difference is you're way out in the middle of the
ocean and water between the different islands and there is a
much more of a--almost a--particularly among the native
Hawaiian population some of the other immigrant groups have
fixation to land in the immediate area more like the Native
American nations inside the United States. And that presents a
different type of a challenge, much like what happened in the
Indian schools in the West which were not particularly
effective when they moved the kids from the reservation into
Phoenix, say, and the impact on the education system.
So I agree it's a different challenge and I'm trying to
work that through. On the other hand, it's not unusual that
young people have to move long distances away from their
families all over the United States and Alaska, for example.
Let me yield to.
Mr. Case. Do you want to make a followup.
Mr. Kenoi. Yes. I completely agree with you, and there are
times when you need to be sent off island when there are too
many negative dynamics around them in their home area. I
completely agree with you, Chairman Souder, and we understood
it from day 1, that we were fortunate we were given an
opportunity to be a model program. We knew that we were getting
resources that weren't available to other communities across
this entire country.
So it wasn't an idea of let's get this money and do our
thing with it. It was give us the opportunity with these
resources to see how we can create a unique program. And if
we're effective, we can replicate this elsewhere in the
country. Instead of giving a little bit and guessing what works
and what doesn't work, let us be the guinea pig, if you will,
let us be a test.
And I think on our island community has done a good job
with it. We'll see with the specific data and measurables. But
we have a community that the mayor, the police chief, the
prosecutor are all on the same page and committed. We're
looking at a community that anywhere you go on the island,
people come out, they respond, they take the time to be there.
People put aside their political and personal differences,
ideological differences, and understand that the only way we're
going to succeed is if we collectively and collaboratively work
together. So we understand that. This is a unique opportunity
and we feel the importance of doing right by it.
Mr. Case. Just staying with the question because I think
you're exactly right, Billy, this was represented to the
Congress and Congress approved it and through Senator Inouye's
efforts a test, a national test. This is the model. What works
and what doesn't?
So with that there is an opportunity, a tremendous
opportunity that, frankly, the rest of our State doesn't have
but also a tremendous responsibility. And I think there is also
a responsibility at the end of the day to recognize and
honestly assess what the results were. Because I think what I'm
hearing in the Chair's questions are basically we do have to
analyze the cost effectiveness at the end of the day.
Are there any results--not results, do you have any sense
of what really is working and what is still open for question?
Do we know, for example, in your opinion, that the moneys
allocated to, for example, we spent the whole first panel
talking about law enforcement, trying to give our law
enforcement community the tools it needs. And it doesn't have
the tools. It doesn't have the tools in the State books, and it
doesn't have the tools within the Federal reach or both really,
and you have supplemented in that way. You got people out in
the community on a law enforcement basis. Rehabilitation, we've
always known that was expensive and we have never devoted these
kind of resources to it. Preventative education has always been
touted as the way to go but at the expense of rehabilitation.
Is it honestly too early to give the committee any
indication of what really is a slam dunk or what is out there?
Do you have any answers?
Mr. Kenoi. Yes, I'll take a stab at that because I'm
constantly asking and curious. Nobody is going to stand up and
say this is what we know. For example, SAMHSA's directory, I
sent a letter to every chemical dependency, substance abuse
agency, office, university, department across the country just
to see and ask do we know what works.
It's amazing how much billions of dollars we spend every
year on substance abuse related issues and a lot of people
still shrug, they're still not sure. That's no reason to sit
around and--you know, analysis by paralysis.
But to get back to your question what works, I will say
this. We contracted with the University of Hawaii Manoa, Center
for the Family. They do excellent work in terms of evaluating
programs and resources and it's an independent review of
resources and programs and services and how effective, what is
the effectiveness of that.
But if you ask me, walking around, because people ask every
day, you go to a family party, somebody will stop you, how's it
going, what's working. Senator Inouye was here a couple weeks
ago and we had a briefing from HPD, and they used what
indicators they had, whether it's working. Price on the street
for crystal meth doubled. That's an indication that things are
working. We created an ice hotline.
The community's No. 1 concern, police/law enforcement not
effective. Ice house on my street 5 years, 3 years, 6 months,
nobody is doing anything. That ice house is a plague on our
community and on our children. We started an ice hotline, I
think, maybe 50, 60 calls a week, people saying what can we do
with this ice house. And what we did with this ice hotline--I
want to give Chief Mahuna credit for this, is that we
documented every call, so that when a person called in to speak
to a sergeant and the next time a patrolman and the next time
dispatch.
They documented every call. Now we have one to two
complaints a week.
Mr. Case. Were those efforts funded out of the money; in
other words, you had the resources to do that out of the moneys
that were provided.
Mr. Kenoi. What we were told when we were given Federal
moneys is that you guys have to get State moneys and county
moneys put forward so that it's not just all of us relaying on
the State, and this was part of the county's contribution, to
supplement the Federal moneys.
So that's why we were told right off the top by Senator
Inouye's office, as well as yourself, Congressman Case, is that
when you get congressional money, you can't just ask Congress
and the Federal Government to step up and pay for it. The
community has to do their part, the county government has to
put in something, and the State, you guys have to ask the State
legislature, and they stepped for us and supplemented only what
little they put. Those are the indicators that are working.
I've had people stop me as recently as last week telling me
thank you. I said, it's not me, it's the communities. I'm just
trying to do my job to help the communities. They said, you
know, 3 years ago we wouldn't go to the beach anymore, Billy.
We wouldn't go to the parks, it was scary. It seemed like the
drug dealers and the people who were using and dealing owned
the public areas. And now it feels safe, we all go out,
families use the community parks, they use the beaches, there
is no fear. People were terrified a couple years ago, scared.
Nobody wanted to even talk to me about the problem and these
are anecdotal. It's not documentation.
But I think if you were to ask most people in this
community for their fair opinion, I think people will say that
it's not magic, there are still bad things going on, but have
we progressed. Have these resources made a difference?
Absolutely.
The biggest difference is we always ask communities to do
it themselves, to step up to the plate because that's true
sustainability. These moneys will come and these moneys will
go. That's the reality. Grants come and grants go. But the
community stays, and they're the key to sustainability. But
communities won't participate if they feel they're just being
given lip service.
If the media is there and there is a big clap of hands and
everybody rah-rah and all these promises made and 6 months, a
year down the road, nothing happens, they're not coming back to
the meeting. In fact, you're going to have twice a hard time
for getting them back the next time, whatever the next issue
might be, affordable housing, homelessness, whatever, economic
development.
But the reason this works and the reason we're 3 years in
and people care and people participate is because the
government did step up and there are resources to address
communities needs and there is a difference being made, so
people are willing to participate.
Mr. Case. Chief Mahuna, thank you for the true manao. That
was very well put. Comments on the first panel's observations
on the limitations on your powers and abilities to do what you
think you need to do to bust people.
Were the first panel's observations or limitations on State
law--and what I heard on Lanai, your officers actually
utilizing Federal resources because the State says it doesn't
work down on the street, is that your experience here on the
Island of Hawaii as well?
Mr. Mahuna. I think it's a fair assessment to be made. I
think every case may require a wiretap, every case may look at
large organizations that affect our island because for Federal,
simply the fact that the laws are not the same. The adversary
hearing when it comes to the wiretap is a hindrance. The
unconstitutionality of the ``walk and talk'' inhibits us from
doing our job.
So what we've done and successfully done is use island work
in conjunction with our cohorts on the Federal level and I
think we've become very successful. We've looked at other
intensive ways.
When I look at the terror that people feel, when a parent
comes up to me and says thank you very much for arresting my
child with tears in their eyes, you don't see that. Usually,
you get a pie in the face for arresting my kid.
In small rural areas where we didn't have the type of law
enforcement presence, we went down there and we cleaned up a
bunch of ice houses. And they said, my God, thank you very much
because it makes them breathe better. It makes the fear level
decrease and the cooperativeness increase. It gives them a
feeling that someone cares about them.
So the task forces were developed. Yes, we are looking at
the dismantling of large meth labs and meth organizations, but
we're also looking at those ice houses, the ones that plague
our people more than anything else because the community cannot
take care of their very young and very old. And the very old
usually end up being the victims of some sort of crime against
persons or some sort of property offense where things of value
have been taken from them. And this is not--just trying to get
very material with this. I mean things that were passed down
from their father's father, things that mean so much to their
heart.
For example, the passage of these items and artifacts to
their children and to their families are no longer there. And
to me that is the measure of how effective we can be, and I
think we can be effective given the same type of laws and the
same type of criminal justice system Statewide, that we could
get the same kind of action and the same type of penalties by
Honolulu and probably keep everything on a State level.
But because we can't, the biggest bang for the buck is to
go the Federal way. And I think people will think twice,
hopefully, that if you deal with large quantities and get 25,
30 years, period, you don't get probation, you don't get
anything else, it will make an effect on them. But there are
other things that the addiction has not addressed, and I think
that is an issue for money. Because we took down an
organization, yes, it's slow in coming, but the addiction to
money is there, too. So what happens is we have replacement
people, people that move up in the tiers of the organization.
So when we take an organization down, we have to take the
entire organization. That way we get not only the people that
run the organization but we get second, third, fourth tier
people that move up when we make those arrests of these large
leaders of the organization.
Mr. Case. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
Mr. Souder. Thank you. I'm going to ask to insert two
statements from Elaine Wilson, Chief of Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Division, Hawaii Department of Health that were given to the
Joint House Senate Committee. We met with her Friday, last
Friday, and went through a couple of things. And the good thing
about having a long-term problem like Hawaii has had, is you
have more tracking than anywhere else we have in the United
States. We're getting hit.
And one of the things that's really interesting here, not
saying the Big Island, per se, but in the State of Hawaii, is
that from the tracking data she has which is not perfect
because it's voluntary and parents have to give permission for
the kids to give the data, in the juveniles it looks like the
use of ice has dropped at a fairly steady rate, but adults are
going up because the previous high school ice users are hitting
the adult market.
And you have a potential tipping point among youth to
hammer at home while you're--a lot of times when you're
fighting uphill, it takes a lot more dollars if you got a
tipping point to close down on this prevention. But the problem
you're going to have which has happened with marijuana
certainly all over the United States, particularly people think
of it as 1960's stuff, a high THC type of variation. And then
the adults that have used marijuana and they're not willing to
crack down on their kids, say, oh, well, this is OK, I used it
back when I was a kid. That group of meth users who are now
becoming adults, you don't want to counter-infiltrate the kids
in school as they move in and get another wave of meth, even if
you accomplish this now.
Because you have a track record in looking at what impact
you have is a way we can see to some degree your variables in
other States. Because meth is the fastest growing category,
we're seeing different parts of the United States doing that
which is why Senator Inouye and your delegation was able to get
an incredible amount of dollars concentrated in one place, on
one island, in a very small State.
So we wanted to see some of that and you have this great
track record data to add to what we already have and it's very
interesting. On the law enforcement side it's very unusual to
have the cops go that way, but I can see why, because it's
difficult for you to utilize the dollars if he's hearing, oh,
we all hear this a lot.
In my area, crack is a big problem. Oh, there's a crack
house over there and the police aren't going for it. There's
things like you have to prove it, what size bust is it, you
have to go through the court process. Sometimes you're trying
to track a bigger case in which stuff is coming in. But if you
don't have basic law enforcement tools, it weakens that. If you
continue to turn up in your survey that's one of the problems,
if you can't get the State legislature to change the laws so
you can get more local law enforcement, then you need to figure
it out, because we talked to the HIDTA.
There are ways you can get the Federal Government involved
in the middle of that because if that undermines your
prevention tools, if they think they find something, they work
at it, they can't get the bad guys cracked down on, it also
sends a bad message to the kids, swift certain punishment.
No matter what treatment program, what prevention program
ultimately many of them say but you could go to jail. That's
the stick part of the carrot efforts in the Boys and Girls
Clubs and everything else.
I want to move to the blister packs. We very much
appreciate your testimony, Mr. Kamita, because we're dealing
with this legislation at the Federal level. And let me say I
have had a drug chairman who is very concerned about the nature
of the methamphetamine breaking down after and everything else.
I grew up in the retail business. I'm one of you. There are
at least five of us in Congress who aren't attorneys. Actually,
there's more than that. There are 5 or 10 of us who are
actually retailers, and we actually had a very small grocery
store and not a pharmacy. And I know exactly what you're
saying. Just driving around on the island here, you can see the
concept, not to mention ABC stores everywhere, but the little
grocery stores as well present a challenge.
Do you see that if there was a size cutoff, let me deal
with the basic thing, that could it be handled like cigarettes;
in other words, behind the counter but not up front?
Mr. Botti. It could, but it's going to be very inconvenient
for the consumer, unlike tobacco products, which we definitely
do not want the children to have. And if you look at the tax
and the costs because in order to produce tobacco, government
came in and tax, tax, tax, tax, we wouldn't want that to happen
with cold medicines. You want the people to have them and you
want people to have them at the least possible price.
The way I'm looking at this after this hearing is the
retailers are not the problem, but the retailers are the
visibility. Everybody sees the retailer, but they don't see the
drug dealer. They don't see what's coming in from behind the
scene. So therefore, it's the retailer's responsibility to act
and be aggressive on helping the knowledge area.
We can do this without a law. The photo that I passed out
was KTA Superstores. I happen to be a resident in Waikoloa
Village now, and this is the Village Market. They have a limit
of five packages per day. It doesn't really mean anything
because if somebody wants it, they're going to be limited to
one, but they're going to come in every day to get it.
But what this does is it allows them to put up a sign that
creates education for all consumers. They put it in a highly
visible area. And this is based on us going to the Keith
Kamita, School of Manufacturing Methamphetamine, because Keith
put on a workshop for KTA managers and it was amazing the
attitude change because they didn't know how to make it. Now
that they know how to make it, they know what people are
looking for and that changes.
It's highly visible. They limit the number of quantity to
seven of any one item on the shelf, so therefore, you don't
have the shelf going all the way back. The problem is not the
customer buying it, it's the stealing of it. So this is where
they're going to get the quantity. They're going to come and
sweep the shelf.
So we have stuff going on-line and we just signed on to the
Meth Watch Program, and I think we're like the sixth State to
sign-off on it. So working with Keith, getting the education
out, educating the retailers, having them educate the public
through publicity of these items and then we're not going to be
a problem.
Now, we would be a problem if we didn't do this because as
law enforcement dries up the hard core stuff, then they will
start working the shelves at the store. But like with
cigarettes, they have a bust, they stop at every store, 10
people get off and they each buy the limit. That was happening
with cigarettes until--I think Ed was there when they passed
that law, that they put real stiff regulations on the
cigarettes. That's what stopped it, and the State gave $20
million in tax revenue. Thank you.
Mr. Souder. Mr. Kamita, well, Oklahoma has a restriction.
Well, one of the problems there is at a hearing in Arkansas
where we had some testimony, I learned that, for example, to
get around it in Oklahoma, they happen to come to my home State
of Indiana which is 800 miles--actually, they went to Chicago,
but the guy was operating out of Indianapolis, Indiana which is
about 150 miles from Chicago. Chicago is about 600 to 800
miles, actually, 800 to 1,000 from Oklahoma because Chicago had
no limits, they hadn't had small meth labs and would just bring
a whole car load of this stuff back to Oklahoma.
That type of pressure is really putting pressure on the
Federal Government right now because clearly in at least the
mainland contiguous States, it isn't really working very well.
And the question is, are we going to grandfather in States,
and at what level? This is going to be a big issue, probably,
next year as we work through this and that's why this question
is important. I don't want to have a small business problem
versus a big business problem, but I'm very familiar with Wal-
Mart, having been to the distribution centers, they've got the
scanners, they know basically between 9 and 9:15 how many
people with slightly gray hair, black, how much toothpaste of
this kind and they can get in their computer systems. A small
grocer would not have that ability. But I don't think it's as
hard to do the tracking when they move store to store as more
move to scanners.
Could you discuss a little bit how the smaller stores move
as compared to the bigger stores and how you see that working?
Mr. Kamita. Well, some of our problem is not so much big
stores like Long's Drugs or Safeway who are connected among
themselves or if they have a pharmacy within themselves. We
have in Hawaii what we call a pharmacy alert system where we
can put out an alert to every pharmacy in this State as to a
suspected person who's, what we call, smurfing pharmaceuticals
or smurfing regulated chemicals. It's the little mom-and-pop
stores, the ABC stores that don't have pharmacies inside where
an individual can come in with a crew and maybe buy small
quantities.
Mr. Botti is correct. A lot of the time the biggest problem
is them coming in and sweeping the shelf because maybe that
facility had too much product on the shelf. With KTA we told
them to limit their box count. It will save them money. It also
limits the amount of pseudoephedrine they can get on the
street.
We've trained a lot of these pharmacies, a lot of these
retailers as to what to watch for. But as you can tell Mr.
Botti here, there are some pharmacies who give out seven
packages, some that will only allow three packages so it's not
a consistent message.
We're looking at saying three packages and no more, and
that kind of drives it home that any clerk would know three
packages of any one item, that's it, versus having to worry
about how many milligrams was that and calculate it up.
We know that each blister pack can have no more than 3
grams. That's why we set a 9 gram limit.
Mr. Souder. Is Meth Watch voluntary right now by individual
store and chain, or is that a Statewide effort, the Kansas
variation.
Mr. Botti. It's voluntary. We will be promoting it for all
stores. And I think on what Keith is talking about if the
legislature, say, adopted a resolution stating that they're
asking the stores to do it, we can do that without a law. The
problem with the law is then you get a clerk that messes up.
And if you've been in the grocery store, you get food stamps,
you get WIC, you get cigarettes, you get liquor, and now you've
got pseudoephedrine.
Mr. Souder. Fortunately, you have graduate students who are
40 years old watching that. That was a joke, by the way, for
the record.
Mr. Botti. So the issue is we don't have to make criminals
out of the customers signing in and getting proprietary
information also. You're talking about social security number,
driver's license number, address, phone number. If we can avoid
that and have the visibility, go along with the high
visibility, go in and voluntarily limit the program, limit
what's on the shelf, come in with a reporting form that would
go to Keith Kamita's office, that is something that would be
much more preferable than stating that if they don't do it
right, it's a misdemeanor, and then go to jail.
Mr. Souder. Do you have a problem with the repeal of the
Federal Business Act?
Mr. Botti. I can't answer that, but I know they are working
on a chemical that would go in there that would make it
nonusable for making ice. I don't know how far away that is. I
think that's something that should be looked at if they're
going to change the blister pack which was made in order to
help resolve this problem and keep the product on the shelf for
those consumers that need it.
If that's going to be a year away, then I would say no
sense in tampering with it if the manufacturers are going to go
ahead and do that. I would say that would be far preferable
than changing the law.
Mr. Souder. Yeah, I have a feeling it's 1 year away, but it
would be preferable if we could get that in. And I would be
interested in getting further input into the committee to see
how you're moving on the Meth Watch, how widely it's being
accepted, the effectiveness it's having. They're enthusiastic
in Kansas, but they're still having more rapid growth of labs
so Kansas is struggling with what to do right now, too.
Congressman Jerry Moran represents that a lot of the west
has just exploded in spite of the Meth Watch, so we need to
continue that. Retailers often are the tax collectors for sales
tax because we're that distribution point. And since businesses
don't pay taxes, individuals pay taxes, so it's not like you're
going to get it out of--your costs go up because of this. It
doesn't mean your profits are going to go down. It means
consumer prices are going to go up.
At the same time we've had to do this for cigarettes
because as a major point of distribution, and bartenders get
hit for distributing alcohol to somebody who's drunk, but there
is different accountability. We prefer not to do it that way.
If we can address it in some of these other kinds of ways of
putting things inside the blister pack, changing the blister
pack law, trying to do Meth Watch and that type of thing.
But it's really important for the retail industry to
understand they need to be cooperative here because government
has clearly shown they're not oversympathetic to the problems
of the retailers and the challenges. People love to complain
how come everybody is going to Wal-Mart and the big stores.
Well, this is the type of pressure that's very difficult for
smaller stores.
At the same time you can't tolerate a community that's
being overrun with meth and we have to figure out how to do
deal with it.
Do you have any further comments?
Mr. Case. My question from the last panel, Keith I think
you've answered it. Chief Mahuna, one thing from Congress.
Mr. Mahuna. Well, the only thing, as far as our department
is concerned, it's resources to at least start programs that
are--when you look at prior to the ice teams or ice task force;
2002, recovered 2.6 covered pounds versus 13.5 pound, triple
the cases, with more people in keeping programs than
institutions.
And I think everybody is asking for resources, but when you
look at an island like this that is connected by basically one
road, we have small pockets of rural people that if they have a
problem, they try to take care of it. And it may exacerbate the
problem by trying to keep the person there.
You have a police force that quite frankly is one-fifth or
one-sixth that of Oahu. Yes, you have the density on Oahu, we
have the size. Anything we can put a seed, whether it's through
task force type of operations where we can accept at least a
year or 2 years of the Federal Government's money and then, of
course, we'll pick up as we go along. We start picking up these
individuals.
But right now you're looking at the war and the activation
of the National Guard, our people are down. I think the last
count at least 40 positions so you're looking----
Mr. Case. Out of.
Mr. Mahuna. Out of about 400.
Mr. Case. Down 10 percent.
Mr. Mahuna. It's about 10 percent and it's not counting
people that are not there for whatever reason, long-term,
industrial accidents, and that type of thing.
So when you're looking at a police department trying to
take in an effective law enforcement strategy working on an
island this large with pockets of community that are stretched
60, 90 miles apart, it may seem small comparison to States the
size of Montana. But 90 miles in travel--we have areas where
basically can't go on patrol because we don't have the
individuals to do that. Response times are horrendous. So
anything that could give some seed to law enforcement locally,
I think would benefit, not only the county, the State, but I
think it would also facilitate the Federal collaboration that
we have.
Mr. Case. Thank you. Mr. Kenoi.
Mr. Kenoi. I think if we ask for anything, Congressman
Case, it would just be continued support and cooperation. No
one level of government, whether it's Federal, State, county,
no one entity, no one sector within the community is going to
make the difference or has the resources or has all the energy
and ideas.
But if we can continue working together and cooperating and
moving forward and sharing information back and forth, we'll be
happy to share any information we have for the last couple
years, but as long as we stick together we'll be better for it
in the community. The community will see that cooperation. It
will give them that feeling that they're not wasting their time
and effort in continuing to address this problem, and that's
all.
Mr. Case. I think we're going to be called to account for
this island because at some point the jury is going to come in
and it's going to be our turn to report back to the rest of the
country how we did. I think that's an effort you've been very
good at leading.
And I think I do want to recognize, for the record,
somebody who is not here physically but is simply here in
spirit and that's Mayor Kim.
Lieutenant Governor, and he talked for his wishlist about
our Federal Government specifically at the top of the list and
Mayor Kim has not just talked it, he's lived it, so he deserves
our recognition. Thank you.
Mr. Souder. Thank you. In North Dakota at the Canadian
border, there in the northwest corner, there is a little
crossing home port, and I think the county is 90 miles by 120
miles. They have two policemen, a chief and a deputy chief.
Now, the good thing is that's more than the number of
trees, and it's so flat that anybody who tries to get away, you
can see them for almost 100 miles. That's the other difference
here in Hawaii in trying to move through all the tropicals and
mountains.
We appreciate your work, if you can pass that to all the
people who work with you, too. I look forward to getting
updated. Thank you for taking the time to be with us today.
We'll take a brief break if the third panel could come forward.
[Recess.]
Mr. Souder. Our third panel is Mr. Grayson Hashida. You're
from the Big Island Substance Abuse Council; Mr. Allen Salavea,
Office of the Prosecuting Attorney with the Youth Builder's;
and Dr. Jamal Wasan, the Lokahi Treatment Program.
Dr. Wasan. Centers.
Mr. Souder. And would you each raise your right hands.
[Witnesses sworn.]
Mr. Souder. Let the record show that they each responded in
the affirmative and we're going to start off with Mr. Hashida.
STATEMENT OF GRAYSON HASHIDA, BIG ISLAND SUBSTANCE ABUSE
COUNCIL
Mr. Hashida. Thank you, Congressman Souder and Congressman
Case, for this opportunity to share. The Big Island Substance
Abuse Council has been responding to those who are reaching out
for help from addiction and alcoholism for many years. This is
evident by the 40 years of service this non-profit organization
has been operating here on the island of Hawaii.
Drugs are not a new phenomenon to the island, but much has
changed in recent years. What is a phenomenon is the incredible
impact that the drug methamphetamine known as ice has created.
Few Big Island residents can state that they have not been
touched in one way or another by this terrible drug. Addiction,
violence, and crime now recognize ice as the motive or reason
behind the action.
At the Big Island Substance Abuse Council the impact began
in the mid 1990's as the number of consumers presenting
themselves with ice as their drug of choice began a steady
increase. In the year 2000, ice became the most common
addiction being treated at our programs. Today, the number of
individuals in the Big Island Substance Abuse Council programs
who will report addiction or abuse of methamphetamine is
overwhelming. All ages, all cultures, all income levels, no one
is ignored by this addiction.
There are many opinions as to why this trend has occurred.
These opinions are as diverse as the people who occupy this
beautiful island, and the speculation will undoubtedly
continue. The Big Island Substance Abuse Council has moved
beyond the question why and is now looking to the solution.
Local, State, and Federal Government departments began efforts
to reach out to the people of Hawaii County and take a lead in
developing the strategy and solution to the problem.
Partnerships and collaborative efforts have begun a new trend
related to ice that is ``Healing Our Island.''
A combination of law enforcement, prevention, and treatment
efforts has resulted in a comprehensive approach to turn the
tide. Details related to the Big Island Substance Abuse
Council's role in these efforts include the development and
implementation of many new programs and opportunities for those
impacted by ice addiction. The primary objective is to increase
capacity of programs while reducing barriers to accessing
services.
Providing services to children and adolescents is one of
the primary objectives. The Big Island Substance Abuse Council
is now in all of Hawaii County's public high schools. A full-
time substance abuse counselor is available in the familiar
environment of the school and can be accessed in confidence.
Adolescents who present evidence of substance abuse can also be
referred directly. The behaviors and patterns that lead to
substance abuse are addressed where and when it is appropriate,
not after it has progressed to addiction.
For the adolescents who have progressed past early
intervention, the Big Island Substance Abuse Council is a
partner in developing and implementing a comprehensive
Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Program. This
experiential program is designed on the Big Island, by Big
Island professionals, for Big Island kids.
These adolescent programs are provided in addition to the
outpatient treatment services established by Big Island
Substance Abuse Council in Kona, Waimea, and Hilo many years
ago. These programs work directly with Judiciary and family
referrals for adolescents appropriate for an outpatient level
of care such as The Big Island Juvenile Drug Court. Treatment
services are provided to this target population while the Drug
Court monitors progress and provides accountability through
incentives and sanctions for the participant. This program has
demonstrated excellent outcomes throughout the mainland and
expectations are high as the Big Island Drug Court is
implemented in Hawaii County.
Families have experienced a significant amount of turmoil
and damage due to ice as demonstrated through increased
domestic violence, child abuse, and homelessness. The Big
Island Substance Abuse Council responded to this community need
through the development of therapeutic living programs. These
homes accommodate target populations in a homelike setting with
the reinforcement of full-time staffing. Programs for new
mothers and their infant children and the home for single
fathers and their children are examples of how the therapeutic
living programs reach out to meet the specific needs of the
families.
With 24 programs throughout the island of Hawaii, the Big
Island Substance Abuse Council continues to provide effective
and efficient services to those in need. Regardless of age,
cultural identity, or income level, our programs are developed
to provide immediate access and to reduce barriers to
appropriate treatment and prevention services.
The Big Island Substance Abuse Council is honored to be a
part of the solution in the efforts of Healing Our Island. The
responses to our community needs and development of solutions
to the ice epidemic were possible only through a collaborative
and strategic effort of everyone involved. Support from our
government officials such as Senator Daniel Inouye, Governor
Linda Lingle, and County of Hawaii Mayor Harry Kim provided
leadership and inspiration to stand firm.
While much progress has been made, and the efforts have
been rewarded with success, there remains tremendous needs.
Support for the individuals, families, and communities
throughout the island of Hawaii will be necessary as the work
continues. Many rural areas hit hard by economic turmoil and
the devastation of ice still have little or no services for
their residents.
Longer durations of treatment have been proven effective
for methamphetamine addiction, but treatment episodes continue
to be limited in length. Specific target populations such as
those with co-occurring disorders struggle to find appropriate
care.
The island of Hawaii continues to need the support of our
Federal agencies to maintain the course and develop all of the
resources necessary to overcome this epidemic. Please continue
providing the funding opportunities and support that have
allowed the progress to occur and will continue to support the
efforts toward Healing Our Island. Thank you.
Mr. Souder. Thank you. Mr. Salavea.
STATEMENT OF ALLEN SALAVEA, OFFICE OF THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY
WITH THE YOUTH BUILDERS
Mr. Salavea. Aloha mai kakou, Chairman Souder,
Representative Case. I would like to begin by thanking you for
this opportunity to testify on the impact of crystal
methamphetamine or ice as it is locally known. Part of my
testimony is to quantify the ice problem and its impact on the
youth of Hawaii island. And the other part is to give you a
preview of the prevention, treatment, law enforcement, and
community mobilization initiatives that have taken place in
response to the crisis.
My testimony is about the hope we have in our people, as
well as the promise we are making to future generations by
taking action now to purge the poison of ice out of our
communities.
Hawaii island is in a fight for the lives and futures of
our children. In 2002 Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug survey
for the County of Hawaii stated that 2.3 percent of eighth
graders and 6.1 percent of seniors had tried ice at least once
in their lives.
The survey goes on to report that 60.9 percent of eighth
graders felt that laws and norms in Hawaii island are favorable
to drug use.
Statistics on the impact of ice in other domains of a young
person's life are also poor. According to Child Welfare
Services, children living without the presence of either parent
rose from 2,669 in 1997 to 3,326 in 1999. Cases of neglect have
also doubled from 91 cases confirmed in 1995 to 203 in 1999.
These numbers illustrate the early onset of ice use, as well as
the disintegration of the family unit.
In response, Hawaii County has developed a system of
prevention programs, effective treatment options, and law
enforcement resources to prosecute ice-related crime. Community
based drug prevention programs is an important facet of Hawaii
Island's strategy. The Pulama project administered by the Bay
Clinic and funded through a grant from the Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration extend prevention
resources and services island-wide by collaborating with other
non-profit and government agencies.
In the area of treatment the role and acceptance of drug
treatment and addiction from a public health perspective has
gained widespread acceptance in the community. The Third
Circuit Court of Hawaii island has initiated Drug Court based
on national models as an alternative for convicted drug users.
The response by the community has been very positive with
citizen groups asking what type of supports are needed.
Another welcome addition to the array of services available
to you is an on-island adolescent treatment facility. County,
State, and Federal agencies along with community-based
organizations have developed a program grounded and tested and
effective methods and incorporated experiential and cultural
components.
Law enforcement is the next critical piece in controlling
ice and reducing the available supply. Hawaii County Police
Department in cooperation with the Drug Enforcement Agency, the
U.S. Attorney's Office, and the County of Hawaii Prosecutor's
office have formed an ice task force to identify, arrest, and
prosecute ice dealers.
The last piece in this effort is community empowerment.
Over the last 2 years we have seen mobilization of citizen
groups on an unprecedented scale from neighborhood watch groups
to coordinating island-wide anti-ice sign waving events to
community coalitions engaging in community planning. The
citizens of Hawaii island understand their stake in this effort
and have risen to the challenge.
The Federal Government's support of community-based
prevention and treatment programs along with the continued
presence of Federal law enforcement are an integral supports of
Hawaii island's ice strategy. In addition, Federal assistance
to communities and neighborhoods to complete assessments and
action plans help to empower citizens.
In closing, the ice epidemic has caused a wide array of
social problems for children and families of Hawaii island. The
aforementioned statistics pull at our sense of responsibility
and motivate us to act. I have given you an abbreviated glimpse
of the four aspects of Hawaii County's response to the ice
problem to illustrate the cohesiveness of our community. We
hope for continued support from the Federal Government to purge
our island paradise of ice.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Salavea follows:]
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Mr. Souder. Thank you.
Dr. Wasan.
STATEMENT OF JAMAL WASAN, LOKAHI TREATMENT PROGRAM
Dr. Wasan. A very famous philosopher once said: ``Once you
label me, you negate me.'' And I think a lot of it comes with
dealing with rehabilitation for those who are suffering from
ice. I think at times we forget where they come from and who
they really are.
I am, personally, myself, in recovery, a recovering addict.
I was wounded twice in Vietnam, was hospitalized, ended up
becoming addicted to Demerol and when I got out of the
hospital, stayed on Darvocet and used marijuana for quite a
long time. I read a book back in 1970 called Man Searches for
Meaning by a person named Victor Franco. In that book it talked
about having had a reason, a why to change one's life. And once
you have that, you'll find how.
I came to this island in 1993 after successfully completing
my own recovery and going back into the military where I
retired as colonel for the United States Air Force. I came to
this island and I began to work for a place called BISAC, Big
Island Substance Abuse Council, and they were dealing at that
time--the big issue was not methamphetamine. It was crack
cocaine. This was 1993.
And at that time we were told this drug is the most
intensive, most addictive drug we've ever run across. Now,
unfortunately, we're involved with methamphetamine. I'm here to
tell you when methamphetamine goes, there will be another drug
that will come along because that's how it works. The question
was asked before about cannabis or marijuana, THC, marijuana is
a multiphasic drug which is why you will find that people who
use methamphetamines will also use THC because it takes of edge
off of the effect of ice itself.
It also helps to stimulate their appetite which is
something that--in the 1980's and 1990's we had the diet pill
which were methamphetamine based which were used to prevent or
block appetites. So therefore, THC helps those who are involved
with methamphetamines to get an appetite.
I think another issue I really want to address and I put it
in here is that having lived on this island in 1993 and
understanding the population and working with some very, I
should say, renowned people who have been working very hard to
deal with this problem, talking about Kanaka Maoles and others,
churches, we need to really--the question was asked if I could
ask Congress what they could do that could help; I think
managed care needs a push in the butt.
If there's two-in-a-lifetime treatment for substance abuse,
is there something wrong with that? If I have cancer and I get
cured from cancer, if I get it again, I'm going to be treated.
If I go in remission, and I get it again, I'll be treated.
We talk about methamphetamines or addiction as being
something that is a disease and it is. It's biologically based.
It does have signs and symptoms and it does have predictable
outcomes, and we know that is the definition of a disease. Yet,
when it comes down to treating our addiction process, we often
forget that and not treat it the same way it should be.
There are rehabilitation programs. I personally believe
that this drug did not come about because it just happened. A
vacuum was created on these islands. There was at one time a
very dynamic culture here that involved the sugar plantation,
pineapple production on other islands. People had a sense and
source of identity just like Victor Franco talks about his in
book. They knew who they were. The plantation who carried so
many things, medical, churches, schools, recreational. A lot of
things happened.
When that began to demise--and by the way, pakalolo was
here for a long time or marijuana was here a long time and was
taken as a nonabusive drug. People just used it. It, actually,
was creating an island of addicts. I mean it is a drug. If you
take someone off from marijuana, they will go through
withdrawal symptoms. It was already there.
But you had this plantation environment which was
containing families. Families had a place to go to church, they
had community projects they could participate in. Then hotels
came and thus we have the tourist industry. That caused a
vacuum because that is not the dominant culture for these
islands. We're agriculture.
So all of a sudden you're working down in tourism, you're
working with the high end, but you're given minimum wage
salaries. That required people had to work double wage shifts,
double jobs, longer hours. Guess what, methamphetamine is a
methamphetamine, it will allow me to work 12 hours, 24 hours,
36 hours, it will keep me up.
It was a natural consequence that occurred and we take it
away and create a vacuum. You take away the marijuana which was
done under new harvest which was a major drug and you do this
for the hotels, you got a problem. Then we go around and we try
to say people are not going in for treatment or they need
treatment and we place the facilities on this island where they
can't even get treatment. There is no transportation on this
island. Something needs to be done about that.
Voc rehab is a significant part of treatment. We talked
about having a reason for recovery and that is the
fundamentally why. The how has to include voc rehabilitation.
When I finish treatment, what am I supposed to do then? Or when
I get out of residential--residential doesn't work. The stats
show that residential and outpatient programs are about the
same, unless you add something different.
And that's what Billy Kenoi is trying to do here. You have
to add another piece that goes back to identity and also
establish some type of after program where the child is then
able to then step back in the community and find that he's not
only accepted in the community, but he has a place. And that
often comes from jobs, my self-esteem, my self-identity.
There's a lot that needs to be done. I think Mayor Harry
Kim has done tremendously by stepping up to the plate, talking
to Senator Daniel Inouye to bring down here, bring you all down
here and bring the money in. But as we very well know, you
can't just throw money at something and expect that to cure it.
I mean I'm a Vietnam veteran. They threw a bunch of money
in Vietnam and it didn't do anything, right. It didn't cure
anything. You can't do that with this problem either.
This is a war. BISAC, Kevin Kunz is not here, but there are
different services and we're joining together around this
island to try and do what we can to stop it. This is a simple
old soldier, but I know the enemy is in front of me. I know how
to deal with it. The enemy in front of us right now is
methamphetamine. We know how to deal with it.
The county needs to be given more direct funding to be able
to do that. I'm not a big State supporter when it comes to
that. I believe that at times you need to go to the people who
know what the problem is and how to deal with it, and that's
the people we elect in our county and that's our mayor and
that's our council. They need to be given more grants and aid.
They're the ones who call us together. They're they ones that
go around the island, Billy Kenoi, Mayor Kim, go to high
schools, go to the churches and talk. That's where the funding
needs to be hitting more and more of and less to the State
where it gets tied up.
If you put it like an old grunt that I was in Vietnam, I
know what I'm dealing with and give us the resources, we'll do
something about it. And I hope that my testimony will prompt
you all to do something about managed care and get them to stop
playing these silly games and provide treatment for people and
also provide more funding directly to the community which is to
the county. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Wasan follows:]
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Mr. Souder. Thank you for your testimony. Let me ask Dr.
Wasan, but the others as well, you're not arguing that drug
abuse is predominantly concentrated among the poor.
Dr. Wasan. No, I'm not. If you look at Beverly Hills and
L.A., cocaine was the drug of choice. Freud created the cocaine
epidemic in Europe. No, I'm not saying that. What I'm trying to
say is that when you take away something that is very
meaningful to whatever people, that creates a vacuum. Nature
abhors a vacuum. Something else is going to rush in and take
its place.
In this case what has happened is we've had a whole economy
that came in place, that economy also wanted to have results,
profit. In order to do that, at times I have to make my people
work extra hard, double shifts. And when I do that and they're
driving halfway across this island because there is no
transportation system, people offer me something. I went to
college, what did we use, stay awake to study longer, caffeine.
Mr. Souder. I understand that point, but what my question
is that--this is a huge debate. I can understand that part of
the economy, but are you saying that the middle class doesn't
abuse meth here and the upper class doesn't abuse meth here,
it's only in that group that's highly stressed.
Dr. Wasan. Well, if you look at who's coming into
treatment, that's what you're seeing.
Mr. Souder. Well, that's what I want to know because it's
not true in other parts of the country.
Dr. Wasan. If you look at who's coming into treatment on
this island, you're going to find those that are underserved
and under privileged. That's who you find coming into
treatment. Now, I do know----
Mr. Souder. Are you talking about government funded-based
treatment or private facilities? Do the wealthier groups send
their family members who are having treatment in the private
facilities that may or may not be here or be in Honolulu?
Dr. Wasan. Right. I do know people who have sent their
family members back to facilities on the mainland, in
California for $35,000 a month so yeah.
Mr. Souder. In the schools where you could do the tracking
of this, do you find that kids from middle and upper income
families have less of a meth problem than those from lower
income families?
Dr. Wasan. I do know that the kids that I'm aware of who go
to HPA or Parker School, $12,000 a year to go to HPA, there is
a marijuana problem and that's there. There is a problem there.
But as far as methamphetamine, I have not seen a rush on that
among the adolescent. I've seen marijuana. But remember what I
just said, though, once you get addicted to marijuana, you've
already created an addict. It's simple, you give me another
drug and I'll try it.
Mr. Souder. Any of the others jump in on any of these
questions. Let me followup with that. One of the big debates
we're having is how to concentrate on drugs. There is no
question that marijuana is overwhelmingly the No. 1 drug of
choice. 60 percent of people in treatment in the United States
are with marijuana. As THC goes up, it's becoming a greater
problem, greater violence problem, greater problem on the road.
One of the arguments is, only 8 percent of the Nation has a
meth problem. It's certainly higher here. But one of the
arguments we've heard in the hearings is that meth grips you
differently. In other words, when you hit ice, it's like all
you think about is your next hit, it's tough to work, it's
tough to do other things, and it's a little like ecstasy in the
sense that addiction may be even greater.
Is that true? Do you agree with that?
Dr. Wasan. I would agree that the addiction to
methamphetamine like crack cocaine happens more rapidly. It's
because of the effect that your memory is pushing out the
normetanephrine which allows you to be stronger, more alert.
It's like taking a 75 watt light bulb and making it a 150 watt
light bulb so you can see everything and you can do more. And
that's a very strong draw, especially if I'm working in a
position that I need to be hyperalert. It's a very strong draw.
Mr. Souder. We haven't heard this. In fact, we've heard the
reverse, that ice doesn't enable you to work. It may be like No
Doze, super caffeine keeping you awake at a certain level, but
at what point does it debilitate you? In other words, you're
starting to make errors at work that are substantial. Pretty
soon the impact on your brain cells is like marijuana because
it has a lazy effect in many cases.
Dr. Wasan. Right, right, the motivational reference. What
you're saying is true, but not initially. The more you use
methamphetamine, it creates a neurotoxin that causes brain
damage, memory loss, and paranoia, amphetamine psychosis kind
of thing. They repetitive in what they're doing so that's
nonproductive, but initially, no, like any other amphetamine,
it's going to boost me and I think I can do more.
Mr. Souder. It's like the rock stars taking a hit before
the concert.
Dr. Wasan. Right, right. It's a long-term what you're
talking about when reverse effect occurs, because remember the
body can only sustain this for so long. This endorphin which is
blocked from the brain and keeps me agitated and moving around
and moving and moving. The body can only take so much of that
and begins to shut down; my ability to concentrate.
Mr. Souder. And then in the treatment, how do you treat a
drug like ice? We've heard that it's much harder in treatment
organizations to get a treatment for ice like crack, as opposed
to many of the other drugs. Your points about fallback is true
and depends whether the family is abusing and whether they have
a job, I understand that portion, but the actual physical
addiction, is it substantially harder to treat than other
drugs.
Dr. Wasan. It takes a longer period of time, I would say,
to treat and that's because of the neurological deficits that
also occur, whereas in marijuana it tends to be faster; crack
cocaine--you know, cocaine is not a neurotoxin. So yeah, you
can be able to--your brain and body compensates quicker than it
would from a methamphetamine. Treatment does need to be longer.
I think the thing we have to understand is that because
addiction is a process, it's going to go through
precontemplation, I don't got a problem; contemplation, I think
maybe I need to work on this; and action, I really am working
on it and I'm in treatment. The final stage is maintenance, and
that's going to be for a lifetime.
So if the drug is still out there, I need to have a strong
barrier between me and that drug. You know what, I can say the
same thing about marijuana and crack cocaine, so the treatment
may be longer. And I also need to have an integrated treatment
approach. I need to have medical, I need to have psychiatric
when I'm treating methamphetamines? Not necessarily so if I'm
treating marijuana or alcoholism, but if I'm treating
methamphetamines, yes, I do which is why the expense for
treating methamphetamine may be more because I need a more
stronger, specialized integrative staff than to treat, say,
alcohol, for example.
Mr. Souder. Now, in California which is the only other
place I've heard this particular thing, meth addicts are the
one group that they don't want their children. If you take them
into child custody, often they don't want them back
particularly if they're a cooker. And I would be interested in
the prosecutor's office's comments about that, too.
That suggests there is something also very different going
on in this drug than other drugs, if they don't have the normal
family attachment for their kids.
Dr. Wasan. Again, if you're talking about the disease and
biologically based organism neurotoxin, it does cause deficits
within the brain. In other words, tissue begins to die.
Methamphetamine, the chemical that's produced in it, causes a
neurotoxin effect that does tend to cause organic damage to the
brain.
This is why you have certain behavior changes because of
the loss of impulse control, damage to the neocortex, damage to
the temporal lobe. It does deduce that. The only way you're
going to find that is if you have them in treatment for a
longer period of time and you have these specialists looking at
that. Then you can design a real legitimate program around that
to help them overcome these deficits--or I should say not
overcome them necessarily, but to compensate for these
deficits.
And this is one of the things that has not been happening,
and although a number of us have said this for a period of
time, it's only just now that I found the first opportunity to
be able to sit and talk with you. And if Dr. Kevin Kunz, he's
is a physician, were here, he would share some of the things I
talked about because it is a neurologically based problem, but
it's being addressed more as a behavioral problem than it is
being addressed as an organic problem or physical problem
because it is.
Mr. Souder. Congressman Case.
Mr. Case. Let me back up and then we'll come back to
rehabilitation and talk about prevention.
We've got law enforcement, we've heard about that. We're
talking about rehabilitation, but let me focus on prevention
just for a second with you, Mr. Salavea, because I think your
testimony goes to prevention.
There was a comment by the Chair earlier that the national
stats show that ice use may be declining. I think this is a
fair statement of what you said, ice use may be declining among
youth, but we're seeing it accelerated among young adults and
that's simply a [inaudible] going through.
Mr. Souder. In Hawaii.
Mr. Case. In Hawaii, which implies that since we're not
having the same type of demographics going through, that we're
doing something right. What is it? First of all, are we doing
something right and what is it we're doing right in terms of
prevention? What is keeping more kids--if that's true, what's
keeping more kids off ice and stable through high school.
Mr. Salavea. That's an interesting question and we notice
through analyzing the statistics from the surveys, that was a
trend that, like you mentioned, Chairman, a tipping point for
us to take advantage of. And as far as what--if we are doing
things right, I think we are.
My testimony really went to the heart or speaking of the
cohesiveness of the community, and we have these terrific
leaders and motivators like Billy Kenoi to get the community
work done and to buy into the problem of ice and
methamphetamine abuse here. And from that the community has
taken the--taken the initiative and in some instances formed
their own community coalitions.
The North Hawaii Drug-Free Coalition is a terrific example
of how citizen empowerment really--investment in that movement
really has a multiplier effect. You bring in the businesses,
you bring in the volunteer help, you bring in the moms, the
dads, the civic organizations located in this particular area.
And you're able to take advantage of that human resource and
use your dollars for direct--to get directly out to the
community, as opposed to paying a full-time position with
benefits, so I think that's one huge component.
The second thing is probably the--because we come from an
island that may not have the same amount of resources as, say,
like Honolulu, we've learned over the past 20, 25, 30 years to
do more with less and that just has been a tradition.
When I got into the prosecutor's office and we started
doing community assessments and surveys to find out what some
of the issues were, the other agencies came to the table
readily and they put out their resources for everyone to use
and to see how we can work together to more effectively do our
jobs and that continues to today.
So you don't have this rift between or competition between
agencies and that's what we really like to work on or utilize
when you bring together projects. It's not about who's going to
get the big piece of the pie, rather it's who can provide the
best services to the most amount of people for the lowest cost
and effectively do that as a team.
Mr. Case. Do you do it mostly through the schools? Is that
the most effective way to get to the kids?
Mr. Salavea. The school is definitely a rally point. We're
fortunate to have a lot of DOE personnel. Their primary
objective is with the education of a child, but it's being
hindered by drug use and in this case methamphetamine. So they
understand and they come to the table with the hope that if we
help them get kids off of drugs, then they can do their jobs
better of educating the kids, so definitely the DOE is a big
partner.
Mr. Case. I'm focusing more on kids not getting on drugs to
start with. We're trying to take care of what's working. You
can track the smoking thing, for example. In Australia they
show the brain autopsy to--and we're getting close to that
here. I know that something like that is happening in the
schools.
Is that where that preventive education effort is going? I
guess I'm trying to get a sense of what works in preventive
education. What exactly works, or is there just no standard way
of doing it? Do you do it differently with a community that has
more churches, you go through the churches versus some others?
Dr. Wasan. There was a book that I'm trying to think of the
author's name. I think it was Dale Matthews, and they did a
study with the public health system down in Texas. And they
found that prevention and preventing relapse, they're looking
at a real spiritual basis. The churches--as a matter of fact, I
think one study was done in 1985 or 1992 or 1996 and it said
that the prevention for youth turning to drugs or alcohol was
the father's spiritual belief, his value system.
The public health did a study with heroin addicts, for
example, and they found those that got involved with spiritual-
based or church-based beliefs after 1 year were in a 90 percent
not relapse, but 90 percent recovery.
So we need to be able to support those people that are
involved with the churches and faith-based group organizations.
We need to be able to provide more support for prevention for
those that are involved in culturally based programs, and that
will serve prevention.
Remember, like I said before, if I have an identity of who
I am, I'm less likely to go off that side because it brings
shame on me and my ancestors.
I need to know that.
Mr. Case. Comment. I would love to see an empirical study
drug and ice abuse among children in Native Hawaiians because
I'll bet you anything that you would see some amazing things
going on there which is exactly the point you're making.
Mr. Salavea. In regards to your question to the DOE, we do
things here in each individual community differently based on
what resources are available. Sometimes the staff or
logistically it may not be feasible to do the education and
prevention in the schools, and therefore, be partnered with a
community base. But the key is identifying what is the strength
and then working off of that.
And the model is, what we try to do, is once you come up
with a successful method and this is the area of community
planning, you use that method or you match up a community with
similar demographics, similar resources to a previous model
that's worked. And then that way you can show them that, OK,
with what you have, you're able to take on a prevention program
and develop an action plan based on your strengths, not looking
at your weaknesses but understanding your strengths and then
working from there.
The big part that we've begun to do better I think in
Hawaii County, and this goes back to your first question,
Representative, is we're getting outreach. We're publicizing
what we're doing and making sure that the community at the
lowest levels, local neighborhoods, understand that, one, there
is an ice problem; and two, from the clinical standpoint it's
not all about persons having a personal weakness for a
particular substance, it's a disease; and three, there are
things you can do as a citizen and get involved.
And it's replicating that message over and over and telling
people to get involved because look at what north Hawaii did,
look at what Ka'u is doing, look at what Kohala is doing. It's
the representation of the message over and over to the other
communities that may not be as geared up or effective, that's
helping a lot.
Mr. Case. Mr. Hashida, let me ask you about rehabilitation.
Does rehabilitation of crystal methamphetamine, specifically
ice, does it have to be so expensive to be effective? Is there
any proven, medically proven, because I do agree with you it's
a medical condition--does it have to cost $325 a day?
Mr. Hashida. That's a good question. Our agency every year
collects outcome data on all of our programs, and we can kind
of take a look at everything. We are finding that there are
extensive services that need to be put in place for treatment--
what we call, treatment outcomes and goals to be met, and
unfortunately, it does cost money.
Like, for example, one of the programs that we can do, a
client can come in and we have a program therapeutic living
services, a house, 24/7 type of coverage, and then 30 days they
go into what's called outpatient treatment which again costs
more money.
The other side of that is they also attend what's called
silver support networks which are 12-step groups which are also
very effective.
Mr. Case. What's the success rate of one of those programs?
What is the fall off the wagon, if that's the right way to put
it? Are there any stats on how many people are addicted,
medically addicted to ice and go through a recognized,
supervised treatment program and stay off.
Mr. Hashida. I can take a look and send some information
over to your office about exact stats with specific programs.
Mr. Case. Just off the top of your head.
Mr. Hashida. 30, 40 percent, but that sounds really low.
But in actuality, when you compare that to other programs,
that's pretty decent.
Mr. Case. That puts a little bit more emphasis on
prevention.
Mr. Hashida. Yeah, yeah. I think at the schools and also in
the community levels the programs are making an impact. They're
creating a sense of urgency so a school teacher or counselor or
somebody can identify a potential kid, if there is an ice
problem.
There is an urgency there. We get calls, things roll,
things happen to prevent that kid from going into further
trouble with ice. Even when you talk to the kids, they
understand that it's a dangerous drug. They don't minimize it,
it's just like cigarettes or pakalolo. They know it's a lot
more serious. Some of the programs they've talked about
definitely has made an impact on them, but prevention is the
way.
Mr. Case. Thank you.
Mr. Souder. It's interesting because one of the things I've
heard was that part of the reason behind the drop here is that
all of a sudden every elected official and television station
and the news stories, say that meth is terrible. The
concentrated effort of the community over time seems to have
had an impact, at least in the youth thing which is interesting
because one of the greatest myths in America is ``Just Say No''
didn't work. In fact, ``Just Say No'' dropped drug use in the
United States 8 straight years.
It wasn't ``Just Say No,'' that was the starter. Say no,
and then you do all the other stuff to help the addicts, to
reinforce that through prevention, you still arrest people on
the roads. Nobody ever did ``Just Say No,'' but if you don't
start with ``Just Say No'' it is very difficult to move
through. And you made an interesting case of that because
you've had bipartisan, cross party, cross--when Congressman
Case first came to the committee, I know that we really weren't
focused on the meth problems and drug problems in Hawaii.
Senators have a lot easier chance to write things into a
bill than we do on the House side. We start low in the budget
and then they get to add the add-ons and then we scramble to
get part of the credit is about the way the system works. But
often we'll lay the groundwork for which they can then put the
things in and there was a bipartisan effort coming in on meth.
The same thing is happening with tobacco, that when we grab
it as a community, we can start to get that. My understanding
that I hadn't heard in other places, and this is an interesting
cultural question and I don't know where the subgroup would be
and where in the community, that some people here in Hawaii
have seen family clusters doing drugs together. And we see that
in a few parts of the United States with a couple types of
drugs, but could you describe that here and do you see that in
meth?
Mr. Salavea. Are you referring to--when you say family, is
that----
Mr. Souder. Mother and dad and the kids at the same time.
Mr. Salavea. If you talk about marijuana or pakalolo, it's
almost at the level of--its use is almost as casual as drinking
alcohol. When you go to family parties, that's one of the--used
to be one of the old initiations into adulthood for a young
boy, when you get to sit down and drink beer with your dad.
When you did that, you were a man.
Marijuana in my opinion, and from what I know of from my
personal experience, my family, and my friends, approaches that
level of use or has that type of community norm associated with
it. When you're able to smoke in front of your parents, smoke
marijuana in front of your parents, you've crossed into
adulthood and now it's OK for you.
One characteristic of ice that makes it extremely
attractive to local people is the fact that it's smokeable. If
you asked--if meth users or addicts had to inject meth, I don't
think we would have the same problem here today. It's a
cultural thing that, yeah, it's being done in family groups, in
pods. I know a lot of parties where you go to a party and you
can pick out every relative who smokes pakalolo. And as soon as
they disappear, you go out the door with them because they're
going to light up.
Mr. Souder. Give me the challenge for treatment here
because what we hear in treatment hearings is--the common thing
is enablers. In other words, alcohol you hear it, wife doesn't
want to crack down, doesn't want to get in an argument, kind of
lets it go, kids tend to get out of the way. We're not talking
enablers here. How in the world do you treat somebody if they
go right back into the family and everybody is smoking pot and
maybe doing meth, too?
Do you have a family drug treatment? In other words, if
somebody checks themself into drug treatment, if that's the
type of culture you're dealing with, taking individuals is
almost irrelevant, and you don't bring the family in for 1 day
to say, hey, or 3 days, this guy is going to be coming out of
drug treatment, how are you going to help him. Well, one thing
would be go into drug treatment yourself.
Are there programs that are oriented if you get somebody
like--somebody comes in at 18 and says my parents are doing the
drug as well, my brothers and sisters, do you approach the
whole family, try to get them in together? How do you deal with
this? This is a little bit different.
Dr. Wasan. You hit a very natural track there, too. They
will not do ice with their kids. You'll hear them say I'd
rather have my child do marijuana or pakalolo at home, or
smoking cigarettes, at least I know what he's doing, so you'll
see that happening.
But I have yet to meet anybody in my treatment program that
will sit and smoke ice with their children. They'll say the
opposite. I'll smoke in the bathroom, I'll smoke it outside
because they do understand there is a difference here.
Now, the other piece, though, and because this is the hard
concept to sell on the islands because it's transgenerational.
Marijuana has been considered to be OK because it doesn't lead
to violent crimes.
It's antimotivational. Who wants to fight me doped up on
marijuana, right, so it's more of a hard sell.
You have to bring families into treatment with, as we call
it in mental health, the identified patient. It may be the
child, it may be the parent, you have to bring a family in.
Most treatment when you look at the research will say that,
that you have to have the family component added as part of
treatment.
Now, has that happened a lot, probably not, but it should.
And why hasn't it happened a lot. Well, managed care isn't
going to pay for that straight out. Managed care will only pay
for the identified patient for treatment. It will not pay for
the family treatment like that, they don't believe in it,
right. So that's a problem.
So in order to be able to do that, you have to get grants
or funding that goes specifically for groups like Parenting Net
Inc. or people who are certified in parenting and even getting
involved in getting faith based who does family treatment a
lot.
It needs to be targeted that way.
Right now it is not targeted that way. The purpose of
bringing an adolescent residential program on this island, and
Billy is definitely correct with that, 70 percent, I heard the
number as high as 70 percent, of the people involved in
adolescent treatment off island were from this island. To bring
the treatment on this island, allows the families to be
involved in treatment and it should be a required component. I
imagine it actually is. I can't say for sure or not. But that
is a natural draw, you have to have the family.
Now, what that will do at least will make it an awareness.
I don't think most people who smoke marijuana on this island
really think it's a drug.
They haven't had to sit down and really go through the
process of addiction. They could if they were put into a
treatment.
Mr. Souder. Is there a way in any of your data to check
when a person comes out? 30 to 40 percent is probably a 1-year
tracking not a multiyear tracking and also if you can get any
data in from any of your organizations to see if any of them
kept multiyear tracking. It might be actually a little bit
easier for multiyear here because you're not as mobile. In the
end I'm going to go to Ohio and Michigan and Illinois, and then
the differences between, say, one relapse, three lapses, and
serious falling back to being an addict, because there are
substantial differences.
But in that 30 to 40 percent, what are the differences if
no one else in the family is a drug abuser? In other words, if
you kick somebody out--somebody graduates from the drug
treatment, they're clean, if they're family is using marijuana
or ice, I would assume their chances of fallback are much
greater than if they're the loan user in that family. And if
so, that's the type of statistic that would be helpful in
making the argument that the problem is beyond the individual.
Otherwise, we're just spending money. Nobody has ever
worked this issue. You can go anywhere and guys will tell you
I've been to seven drug treatment programs, I've been to 10
drug treatment programs. I know how to hustle, I know how to
pass the drug test. I know what they want to hear, I can say
the words they want to say, once they learn to beat the system.
And the question is this: How do we figure out some of
the--and one of them is if you put them back in the conditions
that were there beforehand, and if the family is the condition,
this is huge because if it's the job, you can move them here,
you got a locational thing that's more problematic than other
areas. But, if it's the family, then you're in the position of
the only way to rehab a drug addict is get them away from the
family which is a pretty nasty concept.
Mr. Salavea. I just wanted to mention we do see that,
family dynamic going on, and some of the families are huge.
There are huge families. Every corner you turn there are family
members.
Mr. Souder. Extended family problems, we should make sure
we note that in the record because that will be different than
any other--when you say that, elaborate on that a little bit.
Mr. Salavea. Yeah, the family extensions can go quite a bit
in terms of a small town. That's another factor to think about.
The way we approach this is I'll tell a client, for example,
you've done the treatment successfully, you want to continue to
be successful, some of your family members--you just can't go
back and live in that same house. You can still have family
members and they may or may not seek treatment. They may not be
in recovery, but you're not going to be living in that kind of
environment and that's how we try to deal with them.
Just to add a little bit more answer to that question, I
was discussing with one of the members in the audience
previously, when you're part of the scene and you're in it, it
seems like everyone is doing it. And when you get out of it, it
seems like it's a minority, but you're on the other side of the
glass, so to speak, and you don't really see the depth or the
extent of it, the true extent.
And in getting back to your question about how do you deal
with someone who in the family environment is the enabler or
that trigger that will make that person relapse, another part
of the adolescent treatment is the cultural component where
many of these youth or teenagers have grown up in a cultural
family of drug abuse, alcohol abuse, addiction where it's
become--not their second nature, it's what life is and that's
all they know.
An important aspect is to make them aware that you are not
bound by what your family has exposed you to, and therefore,
you can set your own sights on where you want to go and use
cultural activities, cultural education, history to show that
person that you don't come from a long line of addicts and
that's your destiny, that's the only way you're going to go.
That addiction began one, maybe two generations ago and it's
not that deep and it's not farfetched for you as an individual
to make a total, clean break from it.
And in that process, that education process, the person
begins to understand, you empower that person and they believe
that I am the master of my own destiny and even though my
family may choose to do that, I choose not to. And therefore,
like counselors from BISAC, you don't have to spend as much
time monitoring the individual because that person will for
themselves be making the decision. No, that's not my choice, I
choose to live a different lifestyle.
Dr. Wasan. I want to add one more piece. Just so you know,
the communities on this island were stepping forth long before
the funds were given. The Lokahi Treatment Center began in the
back room of a church with a counsel one, by myself, but they
gave me a building to start it with, they gave me support. I
received no funding at that point from the State or from the
feds or anyone else. I did receive some funding from the Dr.
Earl Bakken Foundation to help me.
We were then given a free location in Kohala because the
community said we need help up here. We were then given a
location in Hilo for 3 months free to come in. The community is
stepping forward. And they couldn't give any money, but what
they could give was I'll give you space, I'll give you the
time. The people who were coming for treatment were not even
able to pay for the treatment, they had yet not been on QUEST
or been able to afford the treatment so we treated them for
free based on what we were getting from Dr. Earl Bakken. And
then the community supplied other means of support.
So this project or this program or this treatment was going
on before the Feds and the State stepped in and helped, and
will continue. What you all have done is provided us a way to
up the ante a little bit. Now we have agencies that are
accredited. We're an integrated--we're the only integrated
programs on these islands that's accredited. We have Dr. Kevin
Kunz who's accredited. You've allowed us now to step up to the
bar, raise the level, bring in the people to work on this
problem and that has helped a large, large amount.
I do see the numbers dropping of those in my program from
relapsing and coming back. Something is happening. I see the
faith-based communities stepping in and filling the gaps. So I
truly thank you for the support you have given us to allow us
to raise the bar on treatment and that's what we're trying to
do.
You're absolutely correct, prevention is the key and
getting--as I said before, getting families involved,
supporting the churches more, supporting the cultural programs
more. That's the true preventive key. Once I know who I am, I
have a less chance of going that direction. I don't want to
bring shame.
I'll say it over and over again, this culture is based on
that. You do not want to bring shame on our ancestors, those
who are of a Polynesian or Japanese or Asian ancestry. You do
not want to do that. And one of the ways you're helping them
not to do that is allowing the cultural and faith-based
programs to be strengthened to give them a place to go and
learn who they are.
Mr. Case. I don't have any more questions, other than to
say thank you and to the people who came before you and to the
audience who has stayed with us throughout. Trying to be an
observer in the hearing, I think you've seen the best of
Congress, a good person who cares, down here trying to make a
difference, so we want to thank him very much, Chairman Souder,
for joining us this afternoon.
We have a tremendous need across our country. We have
tremendous resources and the resources are stretched. There are
many things Congress needs to attend to. This is one of the
opportunities, to come down in our community and have the
community so eloquently state to Congress for the record that
is being taken what we are, what we need, and what we want, and
what we are doing is truly a great opportunity.
I think we have seen here today the similarities that we
share with many parts of our country in terms of the drug war
such as this epidemic of ice. We've also seen the differences
that we have here. Differences in not only needs and challenges
but also in opportunities and solutions. I think, in fact, we
have been given a rare opportunity to provide really an
[inaudible] for our country, an opportunity that no one in the
entire country has had.
Unfortunately, we got that opportunity because we have a
problem, but we also have the opportunity to demonstrate a
solution that's going to work for our entire country. And I
think we should all feel a sense of responsibility especially
for the people that are responsible--I certainly feel a
responsibility to assist you, the people that are on the
ground, actually dealing with this on an every day basis and
whether you're dealing with law enforcement and prevention, or
whether you're dealing with it with rehabilitation. That's a
very tough job you're doing. We appreciate very much what
you're doing.
I guess I just want to close by telling you a little bit of
a story. This is another one of those police station stories. I
get a lot of information from communities from dropping into
the local police stations and finding the lowest ranking police
officer and asking him or her what's happened. In the hierarchy
sometimes you'll lose something in the translation.
This was in Hana and it was at the very beginning of my
term and I wandered into that community. Now, many of us would
not think especially, if we're in Oahu central, that Hana would
have an ice problem. It does have an ice problem. A community
incredibly deep-knitted culturally, remote, you would think
that perhaps there wouldn't be as much of a challenge there,
but it is.
And I walked in and I asked the police officer what is your
No. 1 challenge in Hana, and he said ``ice.'' I said, ``What's
happening?'' He said, ``Well, we don't have enough of any of
the three things, prevention, rehabilitation, or law
enforcement.'' The community is like many of this island,
remote, far away, supply land, if you put it that way, are
stretched. The assets are tending to be focused on the highly
centralized population areas.
And I said, ``Many bright spots.'' He said, ``You know,
something amazing has happened in the last couple of months.''
He said, ``For many, many it is very hard for us in law
enforcement to do anything about `ice' because, essentially, we
stood against the entire community.''
Ice users were being sheltered by their families, they were
being sheltered by their friends. We would find out after the
fact that the drug deal was going down. We knew who was having
a problem, but we could never really get in on it.
What has happened in the last couple months is we've seen
more family members, more community members just saying no, and
not saying no because they didn't like their family or friends
that were using but because they cared about their family and
friends.
They cared to turn people in that they knew, that they had
grown up with, that had gone back generations and within that
very small, deep-knitted cultural community. And they were just
saying for the good of us all, we need to put a stop to this.
And I think what you have on the Big Island is a much
better realization of that because this island amazingly has
really led the way, in terms of the entire island, many
different cultures, many different people, many different
socioeconomics, saying that they care about this problem
collectively, we're going to do something about it.
And I think if we can keep that spirit going, if we can
continue to maintain an attitude that this is all of our
problem, every single one of us, whether we have friends or
family or know somebody that is using, dealing, manufacturing,
and whatever literally they might do, and help in whatever way
we can, any one of these three categories, enforcement,
prevention, or rehabilitation, I have absolutely no doubt we
can eliminate this problem.
Your Federal Government is here to help you, help all of us
with our challenges. Again, I thank you for the effort that you
have put in on the ground in assisting all of us and I thank
your elected officials who have cared about this and for
bringing these committee hearings to this island. Mahalo.
Mr. Souder. I want to thank our treatment and prevention
people. By tradition, this committee always starts with its
Federal witnesses who are predominantly Federal oversight
agencies and we move through. But we always try to include the
treatment and prevention people in every hearing because
without the grass roots working away with individuals one at a
time, you can only do so much in the larger picture too. Tell
your staff, too, and all the organizations they work with, we
appreciate their work.
There are a couple of general things I wanted to mention,
too, in addition to thanking Congressman Case, again, and the
others who have been so hospitable here. Our committee has
broad jurisdiction and we probably spend 60 percent of our time
on narcotics. We spent a lot of time in this past year because
we also oversee the office of faith-based initiatives, so we've
been doing a number of regional hearings with that.
And one of the things that is real interesting in narcotics
abuse is that everyone, regardless of their approach or feeling
about that issue, realizes that unless an individual makes a
commitment to change somewhere along the way, aren't probably
going to get off, and certainly they aren't going to stay off.
And one of the key elements of that is a faith experience, and
we've seen some pretty amazing stories that can do it for far
less than $325 a day, if, indeed, they make a personal
commitment to change their life.
Now, if they don't make that personal commitment, even then
you need to have monitoring and support groups, but a major
philosophical change often anchored in religion that says I am
going to hell, I am going to change my life, I am destroying my
family, I am going to change. Then if you don't have that, then
the drug testing, the job training, the other types of support
become even more critical because internally, they haven't made
that change. You have to use more and more external factors.
It's amazing when somebody has made a dynamic change. All of a
sudden their attitude toward education changes, their attitude
toward how they're going to show up for work changes, there are
other mental things that come out of that. So that certainly
should be an element that goes in the mix and we've been trying
to work with that around the country. And by the way, it isn't
just for drug treatment, it's in a lot of different areas.
I appreciate you bringing that point out because it's a
critical part because much of this is mental. Yes, it's
physical, but it's also mental, and particularly the recovery
has to be mental, at least after the first stages of addiction
as you get over the physical part.
We also--as we work through this, I strongly believe we
have to look at more family approaches.
It's also very interesting to see where you can have things
that will apply in the other States where you have things that
are unique to Hawaii. We need to always respect that from the
Federal Government. We try to push things as much as possible
down to the State side, you made a good point pushing it to the
local community, with minimal pass-through, minimal control
should be, obviously, the goal.
When I got elected, I came from a little town of 700
outside of Ft. Wayne. My theme was more Grable, less
Washington, but I didn't mean to move it from Grable to
Indianapolis either any more than you want to move it to
Honolulu. The point should be that you agree to move it down
with the monitoring.
When you're spending other peoples' tax dollars from other
States, there are going to be more strings, there is going to
be more taken out as it moves down in monitoring, it's not just
a pure block grant. He who pays the piper picks the tune is the
old expression and that will be there. Nevertheless, we want to
maximize the dollars on the ground.
I very much appreciate the seeming progress that you're
making in a community-wide thing, but it's very important that
we also make the end roads on marijuana and the other drugs as
you're doing this or it will be self defeating. We don't want a
Cheech & Chong or a modern day Ozzie Osbourne family situation.
This committee almost had a very unique hearing.
I say almost because the window was such that I couldn't
get in in time, but we actually talked to Ozzie Osbourne and he
was going to come to our hearing with his full family before a
couple more of them went into drug rehab, Sharon with her own
album and all this kind of stuff. But he is one of the most
eloquent, in between his ineloquent periods, which are pretty
frequent, of saying, look, I got messed up and have blown out
part of my brain, I've only blown out part of the brain of my
kids because of my behavior.
Unless we kind of understand this is interrelated together,
which is the other thing that's been real challenging because
the plantation mentality--or the changing limited opportunities
in some of the areas of this island isn't that much different
than we feel in the rust belt where you can grow up and not
even have to graduate from high school, get a steel making job
of $55,000, now all of a sudden that's in China. If it's not in
Mexico, it's in China.
And the question is now they're working two jobs, have
similar kinds of pressures that even the middle and upper
classes aren't certainly aware of their next job or how stable
that's going to be, it just adds uncertainty. And if you're a
temperament that thrives on that, that's fine. But if you're a
temperament that likes security, it's a whole different
challenge here.
But one of the great things about America, and David Brooks
has a new book about this, is that we have outlets beyond just
the job in which to identify themselves which is why we don't
have some of the class warfare that you have in other nations.
It may be you're the greatest ukulele player in a band in Hilo.
It may be that you're the bowling champion on a given island or
you've written an article or I like to collect miniature
lighthouses. I've been to lighthouses and I can pretty much up
just about anybody for the number of lighthouses I've been to,
and so I'm kind of a lighthouse expert.
And as you teach kids of how self-esteem can come to
supplement other than just this daily routine of a job, it's
one of challenges and why the Boys and Girls Clubs have
increasingly gotten more dollars in the system and why we have
to look at creative ways to communicate that jobs are
important, I'm the workaholic, this job, other than when you're
being attacked which is often, is a great job, but I've also
had all kinds of other jobs and so has my family and you can't
get your total satisfaction out of your work and that has to be
something that you can communicate through to.
Thanks, again, for your efforts. Thanks for this hearing.
If you have additional information that you want to come in--
and tracking information is very helpful because the problem
with meth and ice, in particular, you have more of a track
record and have dealt with the variations that when we talk to
treatment people in other parts of the United States, we don't
have anything. We're dealing with things that are 24 months
max, some areas 6 months. It's a whole different ball game.
With that, the subcommittee stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 1:15 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
[Additional information submitted for the hearing record
follows:]
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