STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1076

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: S.B. No. 1201

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 1201, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE ILLEGAL USE OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds to further develop the State's comprehensive approach to the ongoing problem of substance abuse and dependency, in general, and the "ice" epidemic in particular.

Specifically, this bill appropriates funds:

(1) For substance abuse programs, including, ice prevention, treatment, education, and rehabilitation;

(2) To expand canine interdiction efforts;

(3) To clean and dispose of toxic waste materials found at the site of clandestine methamphetamine laboratories;

(4) To create grant-in-aid opportunities for the counties to fund community efforts to sustain anti-drug campaigns and community-based substance abuse prevention programs;

(5) For community-based adolescent drug prevention programs and community anti-drug efforts aimed at preventing ice use on the island of Hawaii;

(6) To support the department of public safety's drug abatement efforts;

(7) For the expansion of the Weed and Seed program; and

(8) For the Being Empowered and Safe Together program on Maui.

The Department of Public Safety submitted testimony in support of some aspects of the measure. The Department of Health submitted comments.

Your Committee finds that, to wage an effective battle against substance abuse and dependence in Hawaii, the State must continue to develop, fund, and integrate a wide range of programs into a comprehensive strategy. This bill adds a much-needed rehabilitative component to the current war on drugs.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Establishing the Drug Busters Program within the Department of the Attorney General to combat the manufacture, distribution, and sale of crystal methamphetamine;

(2) Requiring the Attorney General to prepare an annual report to the Legislature on the operation of the Drug Busters program and its results;

(3) Requiring the Attorney General and the Director of Public Safety to take all steps necessary to obtain federal funding for the drug busters program;

(4) Appropriating funds for the nuisance abatement unit in the Department of the Attorney General, including the cost of employing attorneys, auditors, investigators, and other personnel as necessary;

(5) Appropriating funds for student substance abuse referral for the purpose of assessments by certified substance abuse treatment counselors;

(6) Appropriating funds for the expansion of drug court programs, including juvenile and family drug courts;

(7) Appropriating funds for the treatment of first-time nonviolent drug offenders sentenced by the courts;

(8) Appropriating funds for an environmental study on the effects of clandestine methamphetamine laboratories;

(9) Changing the amount of funds appropriated to unspecified amounts; and

(10) Making technical nonsubstantive changes for consistency, clarity, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1201, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1201, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,

 

____________________________

DENNIS A. ARAKAKI, Chair