Supporters of lighter marijuana laws, medical use provide alternative points of view LIHU‘E — Medical marijuana user Aukai Edens watched quietly from his wheelchair, as a group of children shouted “We want to be drug-free!” at passing cars on Rice
Supporters of lighter marijuana laws, medical use provide alternative points of view
LIHU‘E — Medical marijuana user Aukai Edens watched quietly from his wheelchair, as a group of children shouted “We want to be drug-free!” at passing cars on Rice Street.
“I’m glad they want to be drug-free and I hope they never end up in a wheelchair,” said Edens’ mom, Kaiulani.
Six years ago, 27-year-old Edens broke his neck after jumping off a bridge, Kaiulani said at an anti-drug rally held at the historic County Building on Thursday afternoon.
“I’m appalled they’re using children for this issue,” she added. “They don’t understand that this issue isn’t about being anti-drugs. This is about being anti-medical marijuana.”
Originally meant to be hosted by county officials, the rally was canceled due to a weather advisory and a complaint from the American Civil Liberties Union. County councilman Mel Rapozo then reinstated the rally as a member of the community. The purpose of the demonstration, according to the county, was intended to inform the public about several pending marijuana bills that would decriminalize limited possession and allow for island dispensaries.
While the rally went on around him, Rapozo said he disagreed with Kaiulani Edens’ assessment.
“This is not about medical marijuana. I support medical marijuana for debilitating diseases,” Rapozo said.
“This is about the state trying to soften our drug laws to make marijuana more accessible to the people who don’t have debilitating diseases.”
He added he is upset that the county attempted to shut down the rally hours before it started. Because of it, an expected turnout of 400 or 500 people dwindled to less than 100 — including a small group of pro-marijuana demonstrators, children from the Boys & Girls Club of Lihu‘e, parents and a church pastor.
Matt Higa, the pastor of New Hope Kaua‘i, said he attended the rally to support a drug-free Kaua‘i.
“I’m a former user and I know that marijuana is the gateway drug,” Higa said. “It is the initiator to the use of more illegal substances.
“Can you imagine your bus driver, your EMS, your airline pilots, your doctors, your nurses, your dentists high on marijuana because now it’s legal?”
Aukai Edens said something that grows out of the ground shouldn’t be forbidden.
“Tomatoes, corn, fruit — you might as well put them on the list, too,” he said. “The real problem is pharmaceutically, chemically produced drugs.”
Another marijuana supporter, Amalia Gray of Kapa’a, stood with Edens and others who had gathered away from the chanting children.
“I’m a nurse and I know people who have benefited greatly from medical marijuana,” Gray said.
The children who attended the event and their caretakers seemed unclear about whether the rally was about drugs, marijuana legalization or medical marijuana.
Angela Agustin, a program assistant for the Boys & Girls Club, said the club got an e-mail from Theresa Koki, the county’s anti-drug coordinator, asking them to participate. Mike Miranda, the program director, said he wanted to bring the keiki because of the anti-drug sentiment.
“I thought it was important to bring the kids because it’s important to give the kids a consistent message that drugs are bad for them. … Substances like marijuana are not good for people their age,” Miranda said.
Carrying a pink sign stating “Honk to stop drugs” 10-year-old Karmela Buenconsejo said she didn’t know much about the issues behind the rally. But she did understand what it meant to be anti-drug. She said she heard that a new law could put “marijuana stands” around the island.
“We’re against that,” she said. “I think the rally is good because it teaches us that drugs don’t do any good for you.”
• Jessica Musicar, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or by e-mailing jmusicar@ thegardenisland.com.
