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]
