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Kokua Line June Watanabe |
HIV cannot be
spread via sharing
swimming poolsQuestion: I am a condo manager. There are two residents in the building who don't hide the fact that they have AIDS. On occasion, they use the swimming pool, Jacuzzi and/or sauna when they have open sores on their bodies. Is this a health concern for other users? There are residents who will not use these facilities because of the possibility of the water being contaminated. Also, they both grow marijuana plants on their lanais. They claim it is allowed by their doctors, yet I have not received any authorization from a doctor. Even if the doctor writes an authorization, isn't marijuana growing still illegal? At one time HPD was called, but they were not allowed in the units so no arrests were made.
Answer: We'll allay the health fears first: "There is no possibility that HIV is transmitted via a pool, Jacuzzi or sauna," according to the state Department of Health.
(Being infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) does not mean someone has acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS; AIDS is the most serious stage of an HIV infection.)
Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo said information about HIV transmission usually focuses on how the disease IS transmitted, not on how it does NOT occur.
She pointed to the Web site for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at www.cdc.gov/hiv/bscience.htm, which she says is considered to be "the most respected source for HIV information nationally."
The CDC says specifically: "Studies of families of HIV-infected people have shown clearly that HIV is not spread through casual contact such as the sharing of food utensils, towels and bedding, swimming pools, telephones or toilet seats. HIV is not spread by biting insects such as mosquitoes or bedbugs."
The state Health Department's STD/AIDS Prevention Branch researched "several credible and reliable sources" regarding the various modes of HIV transmission, Okubo said, and came up with these basic facts:
>> HIV is spread most commonly by having unprotected sex with an infected partner. The virus can enter the body through the lining of the vagina, vulva, penis, rectum or mouth during sex.As to the marijuana plants, in 2000, the state Legislature passed, and then-Gov. Ben Cayetano signed into law, a bill permitting people with a "debilitating medical condition" to grow and use marijuana.
>> HIV is spread through contact with infected blood.
>> HIV frequently is spread among injection-drug users by the sharing of needles or syringes contaminated with small quantities of blood from someone infected with the virus.
>> Women can transmit HIV to their babies during pregnancy, birth or through breastfeeding.Last month, however, the U.S. Supreme Court said it would consider whether the federal government can step in and prevent the medical use of marijuana, based on a California case. A decision would affect nine states -- Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington -- which all have laws allowing patients, with a doctor's recommendation, to grow, use or receive marijuana.
The high court said it would hear the case sometime in the winter.
Meanwhile, Hawaii law allows certain patients to possess three mature plants and four immature plants at any time, plus 1 ounce of processed marijuana per mature plant.
Doctors play a significant role here, because they must first certify that a patient qualifies for the medical marijuana program.
Keith Kamita, administrator for the state Department of Public Safety's Narcotics Enforcement Division, explained the procedure, emphasizing that "the physician is the person who makes all the decisions in this program."
To participate in the program, a physician must be licensed to practice in the state, has a "controlled substance registration" and is authorized to be in the program, Kamita said.
The physician would fill out a state application, qualifying the patient as having a debilitating medical condition specified in the law (Hawaii Revised Statutes, Section 329-121). The state would issue a medical marijuana certificate in the patient's name to the physician, who would then sign it and give it to the patient, Kamiya said.
If you suspect someone is illegally growing marijuana, Kamita said to call police. Police can then verify with Kamita's office whether someone has been approved to grow the marijuana for medical purposes.
"The information can only be given to law enforcement," Kamita said. "It cannot be given to private citizens, so we wouldn't verify it with someone like a landlord."
In general, officers must be able to see marijuana plants growing from an area considered "public" or where they are allowed in before they can take action, said Michelle Yu, spokeswoman for the Honolulu Police Department.
They also have to be able to see the plants with "the naked eye," not by using binoculars, for example.
So if you report marijuana plants growing on a lanai, but police cannot see it with the naked eye from an area they are allowed to legally be in, unless a resident gives them permission to enter, they "cannot force entry," Yu said.
"If police are able to legally observe the plants, they would first check with (the state Narcotics Enforcement Division) to see if the person was authorized," she explained. "If the person wasn't authorized, police could initiate a search warrant."
It might interest you to know that as of the end of June, there were a total of 99 participating physicians and 1,514 patients certified to use marijuana in the state. By island, the breakdown is as follows: Big Island, 795 patients and 24 physicians; Kauai, 324 patients and 15 physicians; Lanai, two patients, no physicians; Maui, 168 patients and 22 physicians; Molokai, five patients and no physicians; Niihau, six patients and no physicians; Oahu, 214 patients and 38 physicians.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
www.cdc.gov/hiv/bscience.htm
University of California's AIDS Policy Research Center
ari.ucsf.edu/policy/pwp.htm
Kaiser Family Foundation
kff.org
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