STATE LAWS HINDERING DRUG WAR, PANEL TOLD

Hawai'i's wiretapping laws and the state constitution must be changed to
help officials fight the state's war on crystal methamphetamine, state and
federal law enforcement officials told legislators yesterday.

Hawai'i has the worst crystal methamphetamine -- or "ice" -- problem in the
nation, with about 30,000 "hard-core" users and 90,000 recreational users,
U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo told a House-Senate Task Force on Ice and Drug
Abatement. Kubo said Hawai'i's law-enforcement officials seize 100 to 200
pounds of crystal meth each year.

Policy-makers have been struggling with how to deal with the state's ice
problem, which authorities say has grown tremendously.

"This is a problem that is threatening to tear apart our entire society
here in Hawai'i," said state Attorney General Mark Bennett.

Kubo and Bennett said the state's wiretap laws have so many hurdles they
are rarely used.

Hawai'i laws require an adversary hearing on a request for a wiretap
warrant, a hearing in which the interests of the public are represented by
a court-appointed lawyer who can attack the wiretap request.

Bennett gave the committee copies of letters from 10 state attorneys
general, who said such laws could jeopardize investigations and if adopted
in their states would eliminate use of wiretapping.

Kubo and Bennett also said the constitution should be amended to revive the
"Walk and Talk" programs at the airport in which officers question and
possibly search suspicious-looking passengers with their consent. This
practice, which was approved by the U.S. Supreme Court nationwide, was
declared unconstitutional by the Hawai'i Supreme Court in 1992.

"From that year on, drug organizations on the Mainland have been aware that
Hawai'i has no effective defense to the importation of this drug into our
state," Kubo said. "The hen house was left unguarded and the foxes are
fully aware of this."

Bennett also said lawmakers should amend a 2002 law that aimed at diverting
first-time, nonviolent drug offenders to substance-abuse treatment rather
than incarceration. He said the law should be changed to "limit its
sentencing provisions to those who are truly first-time offenders."

Kubo's written testimony also included recommendations to increase support
for Hawai'i's nuisance abatement law, which targets neighborhood drug
houses and labs, amend the landlord/tenant law to allow for quicker
eviction of tenants who distribute or manufacture drugs, and increase drug
treatment programs.

Task force co-chairman Eric Hamakawa said it was premature to take any
positions about the recommendations, and that the task force needs to
gather information from all stakeholders. He said the panel plans to talk
with drug-treatment providers later.