Report Title:

Crystal Methamphetamine Use; Appropriation

Description:

Makes an appropriation to address crystal methamphetamine use and abuse by establishing an Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Center on the Island of Hawaii.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1603

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

MAKING AN APPROPRIATION TO ESTABLISH AN ADOLESCENT TREATMENT CENTER ON THE ISLAND OF HAWAII.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that crystal methamphetamine (ice) is the greatest health and public safety threat to communities on the island of Hawaii. In August of 2001, the Hawaii Island Methamphetamine Summit was held, one of the first four held throughout the country. United States Senator Daniel K. Inouye, Drug Enforcement Administration administrator Asa Hutchinson, National Crime Prevention Council vice president Jim Copple, and Dr. Wesley Clark, director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment in Washington, D.C. traveled to the island of Hawaii to address the devastating impact that ice has had on communities across the country.

The purpose of the summit was to focus attention and resources upon the problem of ice and the crisis and epidemic that it has become on the island of Hawaii. Child protective services reported that over one thousand five hundred children on the island of Hawaii have been placed under the jurisdiction of the courts, with over ninety per cent being involved in ice or drugs.

The Hawaii county police department reported that ice arrests between 1997 and 2001 have increased four hundred thirty-one per cent. Ice seizures in Hawaii county increased from almost twenty-seven ounces in 1998 to two hundred nineteen ounces in 2001. The Big Island Substance Abuse Council, the largest substance abuse treatment provider in Hawaii county, reports that ice has become the drug of choice for Big Island residents by a two-to-one margin over any other drug. In 2001-2002, forty-five per cent of those seeking treatment admitted that ice was their first drug of choice, far outpacing cocaine (seven per cent), heroin (three per cent), marijuana (twenty per cent), and alcohol (twenty-five per cent). The U.S. Attorney's Office has also recognized that Hawaii county has been hard hit by ice, reporting that Hawaii's greatest threat is ice and its devastating impact upon families, children, and the safety of the entire community.

In 2001, Hawaii county conducted a comprehensive survey and research into the problem of drugs and substance abuse by adolescents. The juvenile justice comprehensive strategic plan, conducted as a result of a federal grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Drug Prevention, through the Hawaii county office of the prosecuting attorney, revealed that adolescents from Hawaii county were at the highest risk for drug use and abuse in the State of Hawaii. Data from the department of health's report, "The 2000 Hawaii Student Alcohol and Drug Abuse Study (1987-2000)," shows that a greater percentage of students in Hawaii county, in grades six, eight, ten, and twelve have used drugs and engaged in risky behavior or committed crimes more than the rest of the State. This disturbing data was an impetus for Hawaii county to seek federal assistance through the office of Senator Daniel K. Inouye.

However, federal assistance alone will not solve the crisis and epidemic currently affecting children, families, and communities. The only hope to eliminate this threat is for every level of government to do its part and for each community to actively participate in the issues affecting them. Because of the unique challenges posed by a population of approximately one hundred forty thousand spread out over four thousand twenty-eight square miles, with entirely distinct communities with distinct characteristics, the legislature finds that it is important for each community to participate in its own healing and its own initiatives. Through community effort, neighborhoods must be saved from the devastation of drug use and abuse, or run the risk of losing our most precious resource, our children. The legislature further finds that Hawaii county, the county with the highest rate of substance abuse among youth, should have its own treatment facility, rather than forcing residents to send their children to Oahu or Maui for treatment.

The purpose of this Act is to make an appropriation for the establishment of an adolescent substance abuse treatment facility to address the use of crystal methamphetamine.

SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2003-2004 for the establishment of an adolescent treatment center aimed at addressing crystal methamphetamine use on the island of Hawaii.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of health, alcohol and drug abuse division, for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2003.

INTRODUCED BY:

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