Gov yields anti-drug funds

Gov. Linda Lingle has released the final increment of funding for drug control programs nine months after the Legislature allocated $14.7 million to combat the crystal methamphetamine epidemic.

The governor delayed releasing the final $2.88 million while her administration examined programs to determine if they are effective. About $1.28 million of the remaining funds will go to adolescent substance abuse treatment.

But Lingle said yesterday that she will not release another $600,000 because the four programs targeted "are duplicative or not directly related to drug control."

Funds released included:

The governor withheld $300,000 earmarked for a Health Department study of the environmental effects of methamphetamine laboratories, saying counties now take the lead in lab cleanups. She determined that $125,000 marked for the Department of Public Safety to conduct a needs assessment for substance abuse treatment services for the prison population is insufficient to implement the assessment.

She also determined that $100,000 for the Department of Human Services to create a multi-agency task force to analyze the effect of ice use by children duplicates work already done by the department. A $75,000 item to expand the prison system's canine drug interdiction unit was declined as insufficient to cover operations by one dog and handler. There are already four drug dogs used in the system, and the Honolulu Police Department's nine-dog union is available, according to the release.