QUESTION: What ever happened to the Hawaii Meth Project? ANSWER: The project, launched last June to combat methamphetamine or "ice" use among teens and young adults, has had "overwhelmingly very, very positive" response, says the executive director. A just-completed school survey will provide the first comparative data since the project began, said Cindy Adams, adding it will take awhile to tabulate the results and analyze the data. However, she said the project's outreach volunteers have met with more than 4,000 teenagers statewide and been to 40 or 45 schools, as well as after-school programs and meetings in the community. [continues 348 words]
The few channels we had to choose from in the 1960s were lined with sitcom reruns, hourlong dramatic programs and classic black-and-white movies. Danny Kaleikini, Zulu, Lippy Espinda, George "Granny Goose" Groves and many others entertained local viewers by hosting movies on weekend afternoons and late nights. One host who stood out was Dave Ford, whose "Hollywood's Greatest Movies" aired in prime time and was the most popular on local TV in the '60s, with a 79 rating share on KGMB. [continues 986 words]
In response to your March 26 editorial, "Keep teens from drugs," I wanted to respond to the statement "Amid a television campaign against methamphetamine, the Hawaii Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 4 percent had used meth in their lifetimes, the same as in the 2007 survey." The Hawaii Meth Project and its ad campaign were launched on June 5, 2009, after the survey was taken. Last spring, we implemented the 2009 Hawaii Meth Use & Attitudes Survey, which found alarming statistics among teens: [continues 139 words]
One Honolulu police officer has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor obstruction charge while another is facing a preliminary hearing in a marijuana-related felony in Las Vegas. Shayne Souza, 47, attached to police specialized services and an officer with 20 years of service, will not have a misdemeanor marijuana charge pursued against him and has completed a list of court conditions that included staying out of trouble for six months, the Clark County District Attorney's Office said yesterday. Souza pleaded guilty Wednesday in Clark County Justice Court to obstructing a public officer, a misdemeanor. [continues 179 words]
I read with great interest the article "'High' School" (Star Bulletin, March 21). The article was well written in discussing the data of drug use increasing among teens, according to the random survey of public high school students. However, it was missing the teenager's perspective. At the beginning of this school year, I decided to transfer to a public school in hopes of taking Advanced Placement classes that my school didn't offer. I knew that drugs would be there, but I didn't expect to see them used on campus openly. I remember walking to class and being offered what appeared to be a cigarette on my first day. I was shocked by the apathy of some of the students for school rules and their own moral standards. Throughout the day, I was appalled at not only the curriculum displayed in the regular classes, but the social climate around me. [continues 413 words]
The success of a Hawaii probation system consisting of random drug tests and quick but short jail stays has attracted national attention and should be expanded. The Legislature should assure funding for the program, realizing that will reduce incarceration costs overall by reducing the state's prison population. The system was initiated six years ago by Circuit Judge Steven Alm, a former city deputy prosecutor and Hawaii's U.S. attorney in the Clinton administration. The program is called HOPE, for Hawaii's Opportunity Probation with Enforcement, and includes 1,500 of Oahu's 8,000 or so felony probationers. [continues 388 words]
Data for pregnant women on the Big Island suggest about half of the island's 37,892 children under age 18 were exposed before birth to alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use, researchers report. The findings also indicate that of about 2,200 deliveries on the island each year, almost 1,100 infants are born exposed. "We have to find out why this is happening and what effect this is having, especially on children," said Dr. Ira Chasnoff, a pediatrics professor at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, in a telephone interview. [continues 625 words]
An increase in Hawaii high school students trying alcohol and some drugs is disturbing and might be a sign of the difficult economic times. While schools should be on the lookout for risky behavior, parents need to be on top alert to detect their children's diversions and recognize the potentially horrendous consequences. A biennial survey of high school students in the state last year showed 8 percent had used over-the-counter drugs to get high in the previous month, and the same percentage had used ecstasy at least once in their young lifetimes, up from 5 percent in 2007. Nationally, ecstasy use rose from 6 percent to 10 percent from 2008 to 2009, according to a study by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and MetLife Foundation. [continues 308 words]
The latest survey of Hawaii high school students shows that more kids are trying alcohol before age 13 and using over-the-counter drugs to get high than two years ago, although meth use remains low. In the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 29 percent of public high school students in the state said they had drunk more than a few sips of alcohol before age 13, up from 21 percent in 2007 and 27 percent in 2005. But experts say it is too early to conclude that there is a trend. [continues 842 words]
Project Prevention's presence in Hawaii is troubling. It perpetuates two dangerous myths: that drug use is endemic to the poor, and that addicts are throwaways, with no hope of recovery and undeserving of the basic freedom to manage their reproductive health. The truth is that substance abuse among pregnant women cuts across all socioeconomic and ethnic groups, and there is help. Planned Parenthood of Hawaii offers family planning services on a sliding scale basis - allowing our lowest income patients to obtain services, including birth control, for free. [continues 107 words]
The one-woman show that is Project Prevention completed a three-day stint in Honolulu last week, generating 37 calls to the toll-free line and debate about Barbara Harris' unconventional approach to stopping substance-exposed births by paying drug addicts and alcoholics $300 to obtain long-term birth control or be sterilized. Harris said she received supportive e-mails from people in Hawaii offering to help. Among them was a young woman who endured her mother's rampant drug addiction and spent most of her childhood in abusive foster care situations. But some experts in the field of substance abuse, health care and contraception object to Harris' strategy, which finds her distributing information primarily in low-income areas. [continues 472 words]
Marijuana advocate Roger Christie said Hawaii island police and federal agents raided his home and downtown Hilo offices Wednesday, seizing records, cash and marijuana he uses as a sacrament in his ministry. Officers from the Drug Enforcement Administration and Internal Revenue Service were at his home at dawn, he said. After three to four hours there, Christie said, they escorted him to his ministry in downtown Hilo for another three to four hours. He said he did not mind the experience "if this is what it takes to be declared legitimate." [continues 220 words]
Every parent whose child is a drug user feels alone, ashamed and virtually helpless. No longer is it the child from the broken home, the one who is doing poorly in school, who is stigmatized by race, economic level or weak self-esteem. It has very little to do with parental levels of education, professional status or even their skill of parenting. Today's children are exposed to drugs just by living in our society. My errant daughter was given a choice of spending time in juvenile prison or joining Juvenile Drug Court. At first, I refused because I did not think it could help her. Hearing the rigors of the program, I knew she would have a difficult time conforming to its restrictions. It also meant a great time and energy commitment on my part. I was, however, at my wit's end. To refuse meant I had given up on my child. Out of love for my daughter, I agreed with the extra supervision, the weekly trip for drug testing and the weekly appearance in Drug Court. [continues 333 words]
Project Prevention Brings Its Contraception-Sterilization Message to Hawaii Addicts Mona Rodarte watched state authorities take away her third baby a few months ago, and the trauma was enough to motivate her to consider Project Prevention's offer to pay her $300 to get sterilized or start using long-term birth control. Each child has a different father; two are in jail and all three are drug dealers. The 28-year-old Rodarte, who lives on Maui, had just graduated from a rehabilitation program. She had been clean and sober for six months. Determined to do things differently, she was looking forward to the birth of her baby. [continues 930 words]
I believe that a large majority of citizens want gambling in Hawaii; however, some have "guilt fears" about this subject, especially when one views the sole reason for gambling as a way to make some quick money during these hard times. So let's view the idea of gaming as it would look if added to other things we need in our state. For instance: Other states that have gaming as a major industry also have a college degree in gaming ("How To Operate A Casino"). They take their own residents and train them to run the state's gaming industry. This could open up student interest at the University of Hawaii, plus offer a chance to get a degree and be trained for a good job. [continues 88 words]
A controversial program that has drawn outrage for paying drug addicts and alcoholics to get sterilized or be put on long-term birth control brings its activity to Honolulu this week. Critics have called it unethical to bribe women to make an irreversible decision, but it has been worthwhile in preventing the birth of children with drug-created problems to parents unable to deal with them. Project Prevention, originally named Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity, or Crack, will complete its distribution of fliers in Honolulu tomorrow, offering what would be out-of-bounds if offered by government agencies. Barbara Harris, who founded and now is executive director of the project, aims to keep medical disabilities and emotional problems from being passed to the next generation. [continues 313 words]
More Than A Dozen Fee Hikes Pass, But Bills To Raise The General Excise Tax Fail To Advance Furlough Fridays would be gone, marijuana for medical purposes would be taxed $30 an ounce and gas-powered leaf blowers would be outlawed in Hawaii as the Legislature moves to the halfway point. The bill to allow the sale of medical marijuana, Senate Bill 2213, would allow the counties to license "compassion centers" that could grow and sell marijuana "to persons who are certified for the medical use of marijuana and their primary caregiver." [continues 650 words]
The events surrounding the death of baby Cyrus Belt remind us again of the devastating effects of methamphetamine addiction and the tremendous price we pay for the impact to our children, families and communities. According to the U.S. Department of Justice 2009 HIDTA Report, meth is increasingly cited as a contributing factor in incidents of child and domestic abuse, hostage situations and homicides. Last month, Diagnostic Laboratories reported that methamphetamine use for Hawaii workers rose 33 percent in 2009 over 2008. Additionally, the 2009 Hawaii Meth Use & Attitudes Survey reported that 19 percent of teens said meth was relatively easy for them to acquire and 30 percent said they thought there was little to no risk in trying meth once or twice. [continues 283 words]
Not only should medical marijuana be made available to patients in need, but adult recreational use should be regulated. Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug dealers don't ID for age, but they do recruit minors immune from adult sentences. So much for protecting the children. Throwing more money at the problem is no solution. Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase the profitability of trafficking. For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime. [continues 67 words]
It was a pleasure to hear that the Hawaii Meth Project attended my daughter's school and presented information about the effects of crystal meth. In my day-to-day work as a juvenile probation officer, I see firsthand how "ice" destroys young lives and families, and I highly support the method of deterring ice use with realistic TV spots backed up by school outreach. The Hawaii Meth Project has not only provided vital information for my daughter and her friends, but it has given me hope that the children of Hawaii are learning that meth is not a way of life. [continues 63 words]
Crystal methamphetamine is given much of the blame for the death of an infant boy thrown from an H-1 freeway pedestrian overpass, but the responsibility falls squarely on the meth user convicted last week of murder. The danger of meth has been well known, and adult users should know the consequences. Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario found Matthew Higa, 25, guilty of murdering 23-month-old Cyrus Belt on Jan. 17, 2008, while under the influence of meth. The boy's mother, Nancy Chanco, also had a history of drug use and admittedly was occupied with illegal gambling and smoking meth with the boy's father, Shelton Higa, on the day of the tot's death. She is charged with robbing a man of $7,000 last November. [continues 838 words]
The first U.S. clinical trials in more than two decades on the medical effectiveness of marijuana have determined it is capable of reducing muscle spasms and pain. The conclusion should lead to changes making it available to patients in Hawaii so they will not have to buy marijuana on the black market. The Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at the University of California, funded with nearly $9 million by the state of California for the past 10 years, confirmed that marijuana is effective in reducing muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis and pain caused by certain neurological injuries or illnesses. [continues 394 words]
The Obama administration gave Hawaii and other states that have legalized medical marijuana the freedom to go forward with their efforts to make it available to patients. The Legislature should provide for a distribution system with safeguards to protect against the kind of carnival atmosphere that has jarred Los Angeles. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced last October that the Justice Department would not waste energy prosecuting patients who use marijuana for medical purposes. The George W. Bush administration had hounded such state-allowed operations, mainly in California. [continues 330 words]
We need to fund drug education that works. Research has shown that D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) is not effective as a stand-alone program if the goal is to reduce the incidence of crime. We need to shut down the schools-to-prison pipeline by building resilience in our youth so they don't pursue harmful behaviors that can negatively impact their futures. Parents and caregivers need to have open and frank discussions with their kids about drugs and their impacts. For more information, download "Safety First ... a reality based approach to teens and drugs," written by a mom, at www.safety1st.org/images/stories/pdf/safetyfirst.pdf. Kat Brady Coordinator, Community Alliance on Prisons [end]
Kudos to Police Chief Louis Kealoha ("It is possible to scale back in tight times," Star-Bulletin editorial, Dec. 11)! He is brave to admit something that has been known for a decade or so: that D.A.R.E. (the Drug Abuse Resistance Program) does not accomplish what it set out to do. Although D.A.R.E. was entertaining and exciting, prevention programs must do more than engage children with lights and action; they must result in a long-term resistance to drug use. [continues 81 words]
Government officials should always be prudent with taxpayers' money, demanding proof that programs are working as intended rather than blindly funding them year after year. Of course, that doesn't always happen, and money for nothing is easiest to come by when the economy is soaring and the coffers are full. It's impossible to justify such spending in a downturn, but still difficult for bureaucrats to cut programs that outspoken constituents have come to rely on -- whether those programs meet core goals or not. [continues 422 words]
State Department of Health budget cuts for the fiscal year ending June 30 include money for several HIV/AIDS programs. About $40,000 is being cut from Gregory House Programs, Hawaii's only statewide HIV/AIDS housing provider; $110,000 from two Life Foundation prevention contracts; and $157,000 for the Community Health Outreach Work Project to Prevent AIDS. The position of HIV/STD prevention coordinator, held 19 years by Nancy Kern, also is being eliminated and she is moving to another Health Department branch. [continues 443 words]
Hawaii is one of many states grappling with overcrowded prisons. Throughout the nation, states facing budget shortfalls are pursuing alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent drug offenders. A study conducted by the RAND Corp. found that every additional dollar invested in substance abuse treatment saves taxpayers $7.48 in societal costs. There is far more at stake than tax dollars. The drug war is not the promoter of family values that some would have us believe. Children of inmates are at risk of educational failure, joblessness, addiction and delinquency. Not only do the children lose out, but society as a whole does, too. Incarcerating nonviolent drug offenders alongside hardened criminals is the equivalent of providing them with a taxpayer-funded education in antisocial behavior. [continues 69 words]
Thank you for your Oct. 21 editorial urging legislators to compel the governor "to accept a system for patients to gain access to marijuana without having to do business with illegal drug dealers" ("Put state pot law to use," Star-Bulletin). The governor's continuing opposition has prevented legislators from revising Hawaii's 9-year-old medical cannabis law and better serving seriously ill constituents. Now that the Obama administration is honoring the autonomy of the 14 states that have legalized medical use of cannabis, we hope that 2010 will see legislators and the governor working together to ensure that Hawaii's program fulfills the original intent of the law: to serve sick and dying patients in Hawaii. [continues 64 words]
There are just two ways to deal with a sharp decrease in state revenues: Cut programs and find new sources of income. Gov. Linda Lingle has shown how adept she is at cutting vital programs such as public education and health care and imposing layoffs and furloughing teachers and other workers. Education of our kids -- in a state where public education seems to lag behind other states and desperately needs greater support -- is being sacrificed, as are a variety of other essential programs intended to help the poor, the sick, the infirm and the aged. [continues 746 words]
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's release of a memorandum honoring states' legalization of medical marijuana is not likely to budge the Lingle administration's opposition. But state legislators should try to compel the administration to accept a system for patients to gain access to marijuana without having to do business with illegal drug dealers. President Barack Obama promised in last year's campaign to recognize state medical marijuana laws and Holder said in March that the administration would not interfere with those laws. A three-page memo written by Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden and made public this week by Holder clarified the policy, which runs counter to that of the George W. Bush administration. [continues 711 words]
City Councilman Rod Tam compares the bed-and-breakfast controversy to the failure of alcohol prohibition ("B&Bs need permits with regulations," Star-Bulletin, Sept. 30), saying that regulation works better than prohibition. We agree. Policy makers should reform our drug laws for exactly the same reason. Our government has spent billions of dollars on law enforcement and incarceration over the last three decades. After all that expense and effort, drugs are cheaper and easily obtained. The first step should be to regulate and tax the sale of marijuana, in much the same way that alcohol and tobacco are regulated. Jeanne Y. Ohta Executive director Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii [end]
The Honolulu Police Department has placed two officers on administrative leave following charges of marijuana possession in Las Vegas last month. HPD is conducting an investigation of officer Kevin Fujioka, 37, a patrol officer assigned to the Pearl City district who has worked with the department for 13 years, and of officer Shayne Souza, 47, a SWAT officer who has been with the department for 20 years. Meanwhile, the officers are tentatively scheduled to appear in Clark County District Court on Oct. 15 and Nov. 18. [continues 130 words]
Advocates, physicians, patients and drug policy organizations are forming their own marijuana study group to do the work of a government task force that was supposed to appointed by the governor. The "working group" plans to meet over the next few months "to attempt to put together some suggestions and recommendations for the Legislature and maybe for our federal government, as well," said Sen. Will Espero. Espero (D, Ewa-Honouliuli-Ewa Beach) and medical marijuana advocates held a news conference at the state Capitol Friday to announce their intentions. [continues 241 words]
Two Police Veterans And A Social Worker Are Charged With Marijuana Possession What happened in Vegas this weekend won't stay in Vegas for two Honolulu police officers, and that worries some fellow officers. Police employees who asked to remain anonymous said they are concerned that their two colleagues, charged with various drug offenses, might have tarnished the reputation of the whole department, locally and nationally. Officers Kevin Fujioka, 37, and Shayne Souza, 47, were arrested Saturday night after leading authorities on a short chase near Desert Breeze Park, about six miles west of the Las Vegas Strip, Clark County spokeswoman Stacey Welling said. [continues 501 words]
Pot Could Be Gold for California The popular TV series "Weeds" is about a widowed suburban mother who deals pot to preserve her family's cushy California dream. Not a few Californians would like to see the theme writ large for their state. California has legalized medical marijuana, its cannabis crop is valued at $17 billion a year, and people there smoke pot openly. But the state can't collect a penny of revenues from the enormous enterprise. As California faced budget Armageddon, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called for "a debate" on the potential of tapping marijuana as a source of tax revenues. That's all he can do, because federal law still criminalizes marijuana use. [continues 458 words]
The state Board of Education is on solid ground in allowing public school officials to make sure that students' lockers are not used as caches for weapons, illicit drugs or other contraband. Its decision to use dogs to sniff for drugs could be helpful as long as they don't sniff students themselves in violation of their privacy rights. The board approved the new rules in an 8-4 vote in favor of allowing random searches of lockers. The rule change stipulates that "students should assume that their lockers are subject to opening and inspection (and external dog sniffs) any time with or without cause." [continues 688 words]
After three years of debate, the Board of Education voted last night to allow the use of drug-sniffing dogs and permit random locker searches at public school. The new rules, which allow random searches "with or without cause," passed 8-4. Board member Kim Coco Iwamoto voted against the proposed changes because she said the school board is supposed to uphold the Constitution, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. "If we are found to be wrong, the 'without cause' issue is not necessarily constitutional and we are recklessly going ahead anyway," she said. [continues 166 words]
Television viewers in Hawaii are being jarred by a flourish of public-service warnings about the danger of methamphetamine. The worthy campaign will be successful if it makes gains experienced in Montana, where the inaugural program has drastically reduced the use of meth as a major crime problem. Use of crystal meth reached a peak in Hawaii in 2005 and declined in the next two years. No figures are available from last year, when the Hawaii Meth Project launched its first campaign patterned after the Montana blitz. However, crystal meth used in the workplace dropped 33 percent from the first quarter of 2007 to the second quarter of 2008, according to Karl Espaldon, the state's drug-control liaison. [continues 774 words]
Regarding the recently proposed educational budget cuts, Hawaii schools Superintendent Pat Hamamoto tells us, "Every parent ought to be concerned." Damn right I'm concerned and have been for quite some time. I'm concerned why Hawaii statistically continues to perform so poorly while spending enormous amounts of dollars per student compared with most states. I'm concerned because we have the only centralized school district left in the country. I'm concerned the teachers union doesn't want to be drug-tested and there is resistance to bringing in drug-sniffing dogs on campuses. I'm concerned because our tolerance in Hawaii leaves us with the same schools superintendent year after year despite an abysmal track record that has led us down a path of educational ruin. Yes, every parent ought to be concerned! Pat Kelly Honolulu [end]
The state Board of Education postponed voting on proposed changes to the student discipline code yesterday after hearing from a dozen adults who opposed stringent changes in the rules of conduct. The proposed changes to Chapter 19 of the state administrative rules would permit random searches of student lockers, define physical contact including "consensual touching of body parts" as disorderly conduct and ban a wide variety of goods including intoxicating substances, gum and cell phones. "These rules set children up as guilty until proven innocent," said Pamela Lichty, president of the Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii. "Drug searches are not a preventative program. The rules set up a totalitarian regime ... at a time in the lives of youths when it's important to feel connectedness with school." [continues 302 words]
Pregnant Women Get Health Care for Their Babies and Help in Leaving Meth Behind A program providing health care and drug treatment for pregnant women addicted to crystal methamphetamine is succeeding "beyond our wildest dreams," says Dr. Tricia Wright. The clinic's pre-term birth rate is 7.7 percent -- well below state and national averages of 12 percent, she said. Advocates say the government-funded program is money well spent. "Given that each pre-term birth costs taxpayers in excess of $56,000, we as taxpayers are getting our money's worth," said Wright. [continues 313 words]
Drug addiction has led to a proliferation of repeat criminal offenders in Hawaii, creating an unsafe environment for our families. Many of the drugs in circulation today, especially methamphetamine - commonly known as "ice" - are highly addictive and can't adequately be treated by community-based methods such as psychotherapy or 12-step programs. This is why I introduced House Bill 358, promoting a secure drug treatment option. As an ex-drug addict testified before the House Committee on Finance, "Drug addicts are stuck in a cycle of delusion. Similar to temporary insanity, there is simply no logic to their actions. They'll do anything to get drugs. Most addicts commit crimes to feed their habit - crimes that stop when they become sober." [continues 454 words]
MEDICAL patients who rely on marijuana to ease pain won a major victory this week in protection promised by the Obama administration. Attorney General Eric Holder said threatened federal interference with laws in Hawaii and a dozen other states allowing medical use of marijuana has come to an end. The state should work toward a system facilitating that legitimate use. As former President Bush's first attorney general, John Ashcroft ordered raids of medical dispensaries in California that provided marijuana to patients legally under that state's law. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that the federal government may prosecute medical users of marijuana for violating federal drug laws despite state laws permitting that use. [continues 347 words]
Court Challenges Likely Will Delay Teacher Drug Checks For Months Or Even Years Constitutional challenges by the teachers union and the American Civil Liberties Union could doom the state's bid to randomly drug test more than 13,000 Hawaii public school teachers. The challenge by the Hawaii State Teachers Association has now spilled over into the courts, where it could take months, if not years, for a definitive court ruling in favor of the state that would pave the way for the random testing of the nation's largest group of public school educators. [continues 2414 words]
WAILUKU - Maui County police said seven Maui residents arrested this week were part of a marijuana drug-trafficking ring that used Hawaii's medical marijuana laws as a front for their operation. But the alleged leader of the ring said he is innocent and that the arrests were in retaliation for him filing a lawsuit against Maui Police Chief Tom Phillips and his department on Oct. 31, asking for the return of seized marijuana and money. "I poked a shark in the eye," said Brian Murphy, director of the Paia-based Patients Without Time. [continues 423 words]
As a Social Studies teacher and a former military police supervisor, I would like to add my comments on the issue of "search and seizure" in terms of random drug testing of 13,500 teachers. I had the honor of voting "no" on the contract for drug testing, resulting in a vote of "no" for pay raise and a "no" to give up my Fourth Amendment rights. It is the basic freedom that my father earned, while serving during World War II, as he liberated a concentration camp called Dachau. [continues 153 words]
Random drug-testing is patently unconstitutional and I've been a vehement opponent of the state's ill-conceived efforts to abridge teachers' Fourth Amendment rights from the beginning. However, the Hawaii State Teachers Association can't have it both ways. Once our feckless union leadership failed to quash the state's drug-testing proposal during negotiations and the membership subsequently ratified the contract, our fate was sealed. Recent HSTA statements opposing random drug-testing are completely disingenuous and self-serving and serve only to undermine public support for the union. How are we going to negotiate fair contracts with the state in the future? Who will trust us if we pursue this course and renege on this or that portion of a ratified contract? We'd be up in arms if the state pulled something like that on us. Sorry teachers, but we made this bed and now we have to sleep in it. Our only recourse is (and has been since ratification) to challenge the constitutionality of random drug-testing in court. Honolulu [end]
The Hawaii State Teachers Association and the teachers agreed to random drug testing in their new contract. What don't they understand about what "random drug testing" means? HSTA has already given the excuses, such as drug testing is unconstitutional and it costs too much. HSTA also wants to test only teachers who have prior drug or drunken-driving convictions. Now their new proposal is to test only teachers who hold a commercial driver's license. But the state has been drug-testing CDL holders since 1995. It is just another excuse and should not be tolerated. [continues 64 words]
Ratification Meant Acceptance of Random Testing, the State Attorney General Says Hawaii public school teachers gave up their right to raise privacy concerns about random drug tests last year when they ratified a contract requiring the screenings, the state argued yesterday. State Accuses HSTU Of Bargaining In Bad Faith In a 33-page opinion, the state Attorney General's Office wrote that the contract's approval by a majority of some 13,000 isle teachers in May 2007 invalidates "any constitutional search and seizure or privacy concerns" over a random drug-testing program. [continues 411 words]
