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Ferry operator should
address concerns

THE ISSUE Environmentalists have lost their court challenge of an interisland ferry scheduled to begin operations in 2007.

A state judge on Maui has rejected environmentalists' challenge to interisland ferries, clearing the way for the Hawaii Superferry to set sail in a year and half. Environmental concerns remain, and the company should carry forth with its commitment to address those issues in community forums in the months ahead.

Circuit Judge Joseph Cardoza ruled last week that the Sierra Club and other environmental groups lacked legal standing to challenge Hawaii Superferry in court.

This year's Legislature approved an expenditure of $40 million for harbor improvements to prepare for the ferry and rejected a bill that would have required the company to prepare an environmental impact statement. John Garibaldi, the company's chief executive officer, said delays caused by such a requirement would have jeopardized $200 million in funding.

Although Garibaldi has insisted that interisland ferries are no riskier than cargo boats, cruise ships or tourism boats, he says Superferry will make an effort to discuss with the public concerns such as traffic and invasive species being hauled interisland. "We have made a very conscious community decision," he says.

A 345-foot catamaran being built at a shipyard in Alabama is expected to be ready to begin journeys connecting Honolulu, Kahului, Lihue and Kona by early 2007. A second ferry is planned for mid-2008. Each will carry up to 900 people and 280 vehicles.

One-way passenger fares will range from $42 to $75. Entertainment is planned aboard, along with wireless Internet access. The ferry will provide an alternative to air travel for residents and tourists alike.

Mayor Hannemann is also planning a ferry system for commuters between Kalaeloa and Honolulu to begin operating as early as next year. Unlike previous attempts at intra-island ferries, direct bus connections are included in the scheme.

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Federal drug effort
needs updating

THE ISSUE A survey of county law-enforcers rates meth as the nation's biggest drug problem.

WHEN the Lingle administration and a legislative task force identified crystal methamphetamine as the state's most troublesome illicit drug some time ago, the Bush administration targeted marijuana as a greater concern. The meth epidemic now has swept the country, but the White House remains locked on marijuana as the nation's prime drug problem. It should redirect its priorities.

More than half of 500 sheriff's departments in 45 states surveyed nationwide believe that methamphetamine abuse has become the nation's leading drug problem. The survey was conducted by the National Association of Counties, whose members are to gather in Honolulu this week for their annual conference.

In articles two years ago, the Star-Bulletin described how crystal meth had disrupted families and careers, causing 62 deaths -- 20 by overdose, 17 suicides and 10 homicides in 2002 alone. The Legislature allocated $14.7 million last year to combat the problem.

Meth abuse has spread across the country in the past three years. Of the law enforcement agencies surveyed, 87 percent reported increases in meth-related arrests, 62 percent reported increases in laboratory seizures and 58 percent said methamphetamine was their largest drug problem.

The local officials are particularly frustrated by the Bush administration's proposal to eliminate $804 million in financing for the drug-fighting program. They complain that the administration is focusing its efforts too much on marijuana and too little on meth.

In a recent report, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy pointed to estimates of 15 million marijuana users nationwide and 1 million who might use meth. Such a comparison is absurd. Marijuana is a relatively mild hallucinogen while meth, identified by U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo as the state's most serious health problem, has been shown to be addictive and debilitating, leading to property and violent crimes.

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