When a report released in September showed Hawaii leading the nation in the number of workers using methamphetamine, the police were probably paying attention. After all, it can’t look good when your island is a hotbed for meth. But the arrests reported don’t seem to match up with that scenario.
A quick search through the Hawaiian Tribune online shows about a story a month, and not since July have the numbers been impressive. In July, a California man was arrested for trafficking in methamphetamine when he was charged with smuggling in from one to four pounds over a year’s time. The quote, from the Assistant Special Agent in Charge for the DEA in Hawaii was, “This organization will no longer be able to prey on our citizens by importing and distributing dangerous and addictive methamphetamine on our streets. This investigation, which culminated with the arrest of John Tai, will reduce the availability of methamphetamine and have a positive impact in our communities."
But the arrests trickle in. And we have the highest meth use in our workforce, nationwide.
Last week, police arrested someone else for trafficking. Larry McCormick was taken in after more than an ounce of meth was discovered at his business. He’s in on more than a half-million dollar bond. The drugs were packaged for sale in 1/8th ounce baggies and the accused is alleged to have other “dealer” materials, like a scale for weighing out the drug.
The question that needs to be asked is how the two pictures reconcile with each other. The highest use among adult working population (and, highest number of positive tests for those arrested for any offense – Honolulu) with a relatively low number of arrests. The users are getting is somewhere, and it isn’t being driven across the border from a neighboring state. Either we are making it for ourselves or there are gobs of methamphetamine being smuggled in.
