Drugs in the United States: Hawaii

Cocaine: Cocaine HCl remains popular and readily available throughout Hawaii, and is often used in conjunction with other drugs including alcohol, heroin, and/or marijuana. The tourist industry throughout the state perpetuates the demand for user quantities, therefore ounce type dealers flourish in the bar, nightclub and hotel scenes. Crack cocaine is also readily available. Most crack is converted “as needed,” usually an ounce or two at a time, although occasionally pound quantities have been smuggled into Hawaii.

Heroin: Much of the heroin seized in Hawaii is black tar heroin, although there is also the smuggling and distribution of Southeast Asian heroin. The majority of seized heroin is body carried into the islands from Los Angeles by Mexican organizations and distributed throughout the state by a close-knit cell of distributors. Mexican organizations with bases in Los Angeles operate cells in Hawaii, rotating members between Hawaii, California, other states, and Mexico. Heroin is distributed on a “call and deliver” system with extensive use of pagers, cell phones, calling cards, and pay phones. Mexican organizations recruit local distributors to lease houses, cars and cellular telephones for their on-site representatives. Much of the heroin use is associated with the traditional age/ethnic group (white, middle class, 30s - 40s), although younger persons are now experimenting with the drug. Addicts are daily users of which a small percentage acts as secondary or tertiary distributors to finance their own habits.

Methamphetamine: Crystal methamphetamine (“ice”) is the drug of choice in Hawaii, where it is readily available, with the majority of it converted into ice before distribution. In the past few years, ice-related crimes have increased as the drug has increased in popularity and availability. The Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring program in 2001 revealed 38.1% of adult males arrested from January - September 2001 tested positive for meth abuse. Furthermore, male and female arrestees in Honolulu tested positive for meth at a higher rate than for marijuana (29.8%) and cocaine (11.2%). Pound quantities of crystal meth arrive from the southwest regions of the United States smuggled by couriers and the by private parcel services, such as Fed-ex and DHL. Local addicts can purchase ice from a variety of sources, since ounce dealers are abundant throughout the state. Most of the meth lab seizures in Hawaii are small “conversion” laboratories. Analysis of seized glassware and chemicals reveal that most laboratories are capable of manufacturing ounce quantities.

Club Drugs: There has been a continued increase in the use of Ecstasy in Hawaii among teens and young adults 20–30 years old. Ecstasy is not manufactured here, but is shipped from the mainland through the U.S. mail or smuggled on incoming flights through the Honolulu airport. Ecstasy abuse is rising among the large military population in Hawaii. Local military officials view ecstasy use as the major drug use issue effecting active duty military in Hawaii.

Marijuana: Marijuana is accessible throughout Hawaii, which maintains its status as a “national leader” in the production of high-grade marijuana. Homegrown marijuana, either harvested from sophisticated indoor grows or from outdoor grows, remains a staple for the local demand and for export to the mainland. Medical marijuana certificates are a concern on the islands, where local users are permitted to grow several plants at their residences for personal consumption. The availability of marijuana is perceived by the local population as normal. Small, mail order marijuana operations from the islands to the mainland exist and survive by shipping small quantities through air parcel providers. Marijuana may be shipped to the west coast in shipping containers marked “household goods,” as growers allegedly move to the mainland, although this has not been confirmed. Marijuana is frequently encountered in the public schools among students as young as sixth grade. A recent survey of high school students indicated that 70% of the respondents have easy access to marijuana.

Other Drugs: The most common forms of diversion of pharmaceutical controlled substances continue to be doctor shoppers; employees who steal from the drug inventory; prescription fraud, including forgeries and other types of prescription falsification; and physicians who indiscriminately prescribe and write prescriptions for reasons other than legitimate medical purposes, outside the scope of their professional practices. Hydrocodonel is one of the most abused pharmaceutical drugs in Hawaii, ranging from $3-$9 per tab on the street. OxyContin’s street price has risen 20% (80 mg/$18; 40 mg/$9; 20 mg/$4-5; 10 mg/$3) due to increased demand. Local pharmacies in Hilo report that individuals are purchasing the maximum limits for pseudoephedrine-based OTC drugs.

DEA Mobile Enforcement Teams: This cooperative program with state and local law enforcement counterparts was conceived in 1995 in response to the overwhelming problem of drug-related violent crime in towns and cities across the nation. There have been 348 deployments completed resulting in 14,794 arrests of violent drug criminals through June 2002. There have been four MET deployments in the state of Hawaii since the inception of the program: Hilo, Waipahu, Maui, and Kona. These deployments resulted in 132 arrests and the seizure of one pound of cocaine; 2 ounces of crack cocaine; 0.6 pounds of heroin; 9.6 pounds plus 1,847 plants of marijuana; and 3.8 pounds of methamphetamine. Also seized were 13 weapons, 19 vehicles, and over $130,000 in U.S. currency and property.