Lawmakers to form
panel on ‘ice’A select House-Senate committee will take
on the drug that rips lives and results in crime
House and Senate leaders agreed yesterday to form a joint select committee to address "ice," or crystal methamphetamine, an addiction epidemic destroying lives, tearing apart families and playing a role in many violent and property crimes.
Such cooperative efforts between the House and Senate are rare.
Two years ago the House and Senate formed a joint investigative committee to look into the soaring costs and abuses in the special-education programs under the Felix consent decree. It resulted in criminal investigations, administrative changes and the resignation of the state's public schools superintendent.
"Ice use is a crisis in this state, and we believe that we need to do whatever it takes to combat this crisis," said House Majority Leader Scott Saiki (D, Moiliili-McCully).
Senate President Robert Bunda (D, Kaena-Wahiawa-Pupukea) said besides looking at tougher law enforcement and better treatment programs, he wants the panel to consider mandatory drug testing in the public schools, something this year's Legislature rejected.
Bunda made the proposal in his opening day address in January and won immediate support from the Lingle administration and especially from Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona, a former Family and Circuit judge who set up the state's Drug Court program.
In support of drug testing in the schools, lawmakers pointed to a Department of Health report that nearly half of all seniors, one-fourth of 10th- and eighth-graders and nearly one-tenth of sixth-graders have tried at least one illicit drug.
"It's something we can look at, but I'm not sure there's overwhelming support for that concept," said Saiki. "There are a lot of other compelling issues to look at."
The first step will be going into the community "and ask residents and experts for their guidance and assistance in finding solutions to the problems they are facing," Saiki said. "Then we can take that information and create a comprehensive action plan to address these unmet needs."
Bunda said Senate members of the joint committee "want to talk about everything. We want to talk about what it is we're lacking in terms of enforcement. Are we really going after the crooks, or are we just identifying those who are abusing drugs and then get them into treatment?"
"We need to have a balance between enforcement and treatment," he said.
Bunda and Saiki said the composition of the joint committee is pending, although plans call for six Democrats and two Republicans from each house.
Last fall, U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo reported that Hawaii has the worst crystal methamphetamine problem in the country, and said it is destroying families and communities.
He cited a Justice Department report that said 40 percent of the people arrested in Honolulu tested positive for methamphetamine use. Kubo said no other city came close to 30 percent.
Gov. Linda Lingle signed into law last month the Legislature's only significant legislation addressing the ice problem. It lets the attorney general set up a special legal team to shut down drug houses under the state's nuisance abatement laws.
Big Island Rep. Bob Herkes (D, Volcano-Kainaliu) pressed for the law, saying rampant drug use in economically depressed Pahala was tearing families apart and overwhelming law enforcement.
Saiki said the joint committee will examine the adequacy of existing civil and criminal laws relating to illegal drugs as well as the adequacy of the drug treatment programs and possible federal funding with help from Hawaii's congressional delegation.