Report Title:

Crystal Methamphetamine Use; Appropriation for Prevention

Description:

Makes appropriation to Department of Health to work with Department of Education and law enforcement agencies to prevent crystal meth use.

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

30

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

MAKING AN APPROPRIATION TO PREVENT CRYSTAL METHAMPHETAMINE USE.

 

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

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that substance abuse continues to be a particularly pernicious problem among youth adolescents in Hawaii, resulting in adverse impacts upon families. According to the department of health in its report, "The 2000 Hawaii Student Alcohol and Drug Abuse Use Study (1987-2000), Hawaii Adolescent Prevention and Treatment Needs Assessment" (DOH report), experts in the field have linked substance abuse to other societal problems, including family dysfunction, juvenile delinquency, poor academic achievement, impaired emotional functioning, and lowered social competence. Furthermore, the economic costs to society are often astronomical, with much of the burden falling on persons who are not substance abusers. Nearly half of all twelfth graders, approximately one-fourth of tenth and eighth graders, and nearly one-tenth of sixth graders have tried at least one drug, with the most prevalent being marijuana, followed by inhalants, hallucinogens, and ecstasy.

According to the United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii, drug use is increasing in Hawaii due to the highly addictive nature of crystal methamphetamine, which is estimated to account for forty-four per cent of Hawaii's homicides. All drugs account for an estimated ninety per cent of the State's 2,300 confirmed cases of child abuse each year. Forty per cent of people arrested by Honolulu police tested positive for crystal methamphetamine, according to the most recent United States Justice Department report. No other city in the country comes close to thirty per cent, with one town on the Big Island estimated to have fifty per cent of its teenagers addicted to crystal methamphetamine, according to the United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii.

The legislature further finds that prevention is key to stemming the tide of crystal methamphetamine use among teenagers. Once usage and addiction occur, it becomes a matter of enforcement rather than prevention. Enforcement is too little too late.

The legislature further finds that to reduce or eliminate the use of crystal methamphetamine among youth as a contributing factor to later physical, psychological, and social dysfunction, and to arrest, retard, or reverse the progress of secondary problems, it is critical to expand prevention efforts in the schools.

The purpose of this Act is to make an appropriation for more education programs targeted at middle and high school students to prevent the use of crystal methamphetamine.

SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $200,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2003-2004, for education programs aimed at preventing crystal methamphetamine use among middle and high school students.

SECTION 3. The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of health, to work in conjunction with the department of education and law enforcement agencies, for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2003.

INTRODUCED BY:

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