Pubdate: Tue, 05 Aug 2003
Source: Honolulu Advertiser (HI)
Copyright: 2003 The Honolulu Advertiser, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
Contact:  http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/195
Author: Lynda Arakawa, Advertiser Capitol Bureau

STATE LAWS HINDERING DRUG WAR, PANEL TOLD

Hawai'i's wiretapping laws and the state constitution must be changed to 
help officials fight the state's war on crystal methamphetamine, state and 
federal law enforcement officials told legislators yesterday.

Hawai'i has the worst crystal methamphetamine -- or "ice" -- problem in the 
nation, with about 30,000 "hard-core" users and 90,000 recreational users, 
U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo told a House-Senate Task Force on Ice and Drug 
Abatement. Kubo said Hawai'i's law-enforcement officials seize 100 to 200 
pounds of crystal meth each year.

Policy-makers have been struggling with how to deal with the state's ice 
problem, which authorities say has grown tremendously.

"This is a problem that is threatening to tear apart our entire society 
here in Hawai'i," said state Attorney General Mark Bennett.

Kubo and Bennett said the state's wiretap laws have so many hurdles they 
are rarely used.

Hawai'i laws require an adversary hearing on a request for a wiretap 
warrant, a hearing in which the interests of the public are represented by 
a court-appointed lawyer who can attack the wiretap request.

Bennett gave the committee copies of letters from 10 state attorneys 
general, who said such laws could jeopardize investigations and if adopted 
in their states would eliminate use of wiretapping.

Kubo and Bennett also said the constitution should be amended to revive the 
"Walk and Talk" programs at the airport in which officers question and 
possibly search suspicious-looking passengers with their consent. This 
practice, which was approved by the U.S. Supreme Court nationwide, was 
declared unconstitutional by the Hawai'i Supreme Court in 1992.

"From that year on, drug organizations on the Mainland have been aware that 
Hawai'i has no effective defense to the importation of this drug into our 
state," Kubo said. "The hen house was left unguarded and the foxes are 
fully aware of this."

Bennett also said lawmakers should amend a 2002 law that aimed at diverting 
first-time, nonviolent drug offenders to substance-abuse treatment rather 
than incarceration. He said the law should be changed to "limit its 
sentencing provisions to those who are truly first-time offenders."

Kubo's written testimony also included recommendations to increase support 
for Hawai'i's nuisance abatement law, which targets neighborhood drug 
houses and labs, amend the landlord/tenant law to allow for quicker 
eviction of tenants who distribute or manufacture drugs, and increase drug 
treatment programs.

Task force co-chairman Eric Hamakawa said it was premature to take any 
positions about the recommendations, and that the task force needs to 
gather information from all stakeholders. He said the panel plans to talk 
with drug-treatment providers later.
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