LIHU‘E — Mayor Bernard P. Carvalho Jr. said he still intends to site a residential, adolescent, drug-treatment facility on the island before year’s end.
Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of articles on methamphetamine use in Hawai‘i.
LIHU‘E — Mayor Bernard P. Carvalho Jr. said he still intends to site a residential, adolescent, drug-treatment facility on the island before year’s end.
It will take three years to become operational, and it won’t be at the old Hanapepe Kaua‘i Humane Society site, he said via e-mail through Mary Daubert, county public information officer.
Funding and community opposition halted the Hanapepe plan, Daubert said.
“One of my major goals as mayor is to site an adolescent residential drug-treatment facility on Kaua‘i, and I intend to fulfill this goal,” said Carvalho.
“In December 2008, shortly after we took office, a treatment and integration team comprised of professionals in the drug-treatment and rehabilitation field, was assembled by our Anti-Drug Coordinator Theresa Koki,” he said.
“Their primary focus has been to assist with filling the gaps in services for treatment and recovery facilities on Kaua‘i, including the siting of an adolescent residential drug-treatment facility.
“A community outreach plan currently being developed by the treatment and integration team seeks to address community concerns regarding drug-treatment and recovery facilities in their neighborhoods,” said the mayor.
“After the plan is finalized, we will host town-hall meetings around the island and gather input from the community, which will be considered and then compiled in a comprehensive report.
“As indicated in my March 2009 Quarterly Report Card, December 2010 has been set as the target date for the siting of the treatment facility, and we have been working diligently towards this through our Anti-Drug Office,” he said.
“It is my hope that in three years we will have a 20-bed adolescent residential treatment facility up and running,” he said via e-mail Wednesday.
“We have to give our kids the option to deal with their problems here in their own community where they can benefit from the support of their families,” Carvalho said in the Sept. 7, 2008 issue of The Garden Island.
Crystal methamphetamine, or ice, is a problem on the island, but not the only drug on the county anti-drug coordinator’s radar.
“Ice is one of the most highly addictive drugs there is and I have seen the damages that it can do to communities and families,” said Koki.
“I have also seen the recovery process and it takes a lot out of families to get to the point of acceptance,” she said. “But what concerns me more right now is the abuse of prescription (Rx) drugs (taken by those for whom it’s not prescribed), over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and even animal tranquilizers such as ketamine (dubbed ‘Special K’) that are readily available in our homes, parks and schools and can be ordered over the Internet,” said Koki.
