Crime experts lament
prevalence of ‘ice’ cases
Selecting a jury took a lot longer than expected one recent morning in Circuit Judge Derrick Chan's courtroom.
In most drug cases it takes a couple of hours, but this was a crystal methamphetamine case and nearly every one of the 30-plus potential jurors questioned said they knew someone who either used "ice" or had been affected by it. It took almost all day to seat the jury.
"This was disturbing because of the various ways 'ice' has touched their lives," said Leila Tanaka, the deputy prosecutor handling the case. "Ice was so pervasive."
The total number of criminal cases pouring into the state court system has remained steady in the past five years, averaging 4,500 cases a year.
While there is no method of tracking how many of these cases are ice-related, those who come into contact with them on a daily basis via the criminal justice system agree crystal meth is becoming more commonplace.
"Not a day goes by we don't have a couple ice cases," said Circuit Judge Michael Town, who handles felony criminal cases.
Ice use is also evident on the Family Court calendar -- in domestic violence, child abuse and juvenile delinquent cases, as well as runaways, curfew violators and truants, said Senior Family Court Judge Frances Wong. "So golly, where do I see (ice)? Where isn't it?"
The drug is a major concern to those who see the impact it has on public safety, families and a user's physical and mental health.
"I think it's been just a steady stream of (ice) cases, and I fear it's going to get worse because more ice addicts are going to be on the streets when they should be in a controlled environment," said Chris Van Marter, a deputy prosecutor who has prosecuted ice users who have murdered or committed violent robberies while high.
In response to the ice problem and the perception of violence associated with it, the Legislature passed a law in 1996 that called for mandatory minimum sentences of at least 30 days and no more than two years for anyone convicted of possessing or distributing crystal meth.
Last year, legislators passed Act 161, allowing first-time nonviolent drug offenders to be sentenced to probation with drug treatment rather than go to prison. There have been problems with implementing Act 161 because of a shortage of available drug treatment programs in the state and because the Legislature failed to appropriate money for drug treatment.
"All they did was put on the streets drug addicts who are going to commit crimes to fuel their habit," said Public Safety Director John Peyton.
The law also failed to recognize the nature of the drug and the effect it has on users, Van Marter said.
"To think we're just going to release ice addicts back on the streets and think they're going into voluntary treatment and follow through with treatment and not commit further crimes -- to me that is naive and irresponsible," he said.
Law enforcement officials point to numerous examples of violence perpetuated by users of crystal methamphetamine.
But state public defender Jack Tonaki said most of his clients who are ice users are not necessarily violent.
"We deal with these people on an everyday basis, and the great majority of crystal meth users or addicted persons are not violent," he said. "Some are functioning in our community."
There are many more cases where a person may have been drunk or had an alcohol problem, Tonaki said.
Because crystal meth is more prevalent today, there will be a number of cases involving persons addicted to the drug, Tonaki said. But by equating ice with violence, "you lose sight of the fact that there's a lot of people addicted to this drug that need to be treated, and you take the focus away from the treatment."
Van Marter agrees that using crystal meth doesn't necessarily make a person violent.
According to a recent report published by Dr. Harold Hall, a Kamuela psychologist and director and forensic neuropsychologist at the Pacific Institute for the Study of Conflict and Aggression, a person with a history of violent behavior who begins using meth has a higher likelihood of becoming violent, Van Marter said.
Hall concluded that people who become violent while using ice are those who have exhibited violent or aggressive behavior in their past before they began using meth, Van Marter said.
Tonaki said the ideal situation for ice addicts is getting them into residential rehabilitation, which is usually costly.
"But an outpatient basis is just not going to work with a lot of clients who are addicted because the surroundings and the area they live in have a lot of drugs and temptation, so the only way to break the addiction is to take them away from the environment," he said.
While the amount the Judiciary has spent on drug treatment and prevention has increased in the past five fiscal years to $2.23 million in fiscal 2003 from $1.9 million in fiscal 1999, the needs of probationers with substance abuse issues continue to outpace the resources, probation officers say.
"What I see is people with drug issues who want to change, and we either have no funding and no bed space available," said Vincent Borja, a probation officer who oversees defendants who require intensive supervision, such as sex offenders and probation violators.
"That window of opportunity when the person decides to change is so small. It's sometimes a whim," Borja said. When addicts finally make the decision to seek treatment but are told that there is a wait list, that moment or window has already slipped.
By the time the defendant reports back the next week, they've changed their mind or they just don't return, he said.
