COM 0314.045 1996-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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. TESTIMONY TO THE HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL SUBJECT: FEDERALLY FUNnFn lunoi_!llpNe_ Ci1DPOC_C_C_1_f_1N__ ( Operation Green Harvest] May 13, 1996 Councll Members: My name is Wllliam Wenner. I am a physician with a home Ln Volcano and a medical nractice in Kallua-Kona for the past seven years. For over thirty yeazs I have been involved in the study and treatment of substance abuse, both alcohol and drubs. I am one of a handful of doctors in the State of Hawaii certified by the American Society of Addiction Medicine. Each year since my arrival here I have watched the council approve the federally funded aerial mariiuana suppression without much discussion other than to determine that no local funds are involved and then take no further interest in what happened. There has been no effort to determine the validity of the, what I believe to be largely fictitious, numbers of plants alleged to be recovered---reminiscent of the Vietnam bode counts---( my personal observation of the annual visit of the helicopter to the vacant lot next to my house yielding 2-3 plants sugv~ests that a good bit of the plant count comes from "weeding" cazefully mapped abandoned plots). There has been no independent determination of the disuosal of the plants and no study of the consequences of the operation. Whatever decision the councll makes this year, T would hope it will do so with the knowledge that it beazs responsibllity for the way the operation is carried out and the consequences of the procedure. The fact that local funds are not involved and that the campaiisri is conducted under the supervision of the Drug Enforcement Administration in no way reduces the council's accountability. The War On Drugs has been based on faulty suppositions as to the effect on use of increasing penalties and iQterdictfon of supplies. The past sixteen years have seen an ever increasing picture of escalating penalties, imprisonment of tens of thousands of people whose only crime.is use of a drug that Ss illegal and expenditure of billions of tax dollars. The result is increasing criminality, violence and drug use. The response has been to double all of the things that are not working. Increasingly, thoughtful people of all political persuasions are calling for achange---an end to the Vietnami~ation of drug policy. The most transparent hypocrisy is marijuana use suppression. There is probably no one in the council chamber today who has not either smoked martinana or been in the rresence of someone committing this crime. There is probably no one on the police force under the age of fifty who has not smoked marijuana. Nevertheless, we are supposed to believe it is important to track down and imprison growers of even a few plants and morally positive to seize their homes and automobiles---incidentally enriching our local police.