Meth, marijuana, prescription pills, cocaine and heroin continue to dictate the daily lives of thousands in Hawaii. 

Exponentially more people suffer the toll of their illegal drug use — from the soaring costs for health care and law enforcement to the victimization of entire neighborhoods subject to property crimes and related violence.

The Aloha State has struggled for decades to address this scourge. And yet despite the problem worsening in many areas, such as the increasing number of teens smoking ice and snorting coke, the issue seems to have faded from the public consciousness as other concerns dominate the headlines.

Paraphernalia lines the shelves at a Honolulu store.

PF Bentley/Civil Beat

But candidates for Congress, governor, Legislature, mayor and county council have generally not mentioned the word “drugs,” let alone offered any plans related to prevention, enforcement or treatment. 

Millions of dollars have been thrown at the problem over the years, with successes in some areas and downward spirals elsewhere. With less than six weeks till the Nov. 4 general election, it’s unclear how candidates running in the biggest races will prioritize resources or reshape public policies.

The most recent drug studies show an increasing number of students are trying illicit drugs. Popping pills without prescriptions — among the top three drug abuses of choice along with meth and marijuana — is leading to more overdoses.

Drugs now account for more than one out of every three primary offenses in Hawaii and are indirectly involved in most other criminal cases, Honolulu Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro said. Meanwhile, there’s a dearth of drug treatment centers and other resources for rehabilitation. 

“We have a major drug problem in Hawaii,” Kaneshiro told Civil Beat. “It affects people’s quality of life.”

“Politically, no one talks about it unless someone raises it.” — Honolulu Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro

The candidates need to be talking about drugs and public safety in general, Kaneshiro said.

“But I think, politically, no one talks about it unless someone raises it,” he said.

None of the campaign websites of the four gubernatorial candidates — Republican Duke Aiona, Democrat David Ige, Independent Mufi Hannemann or Libertarian Jeff Davis — reveals positions on drug-related issues.

Aiona has presented his plans to address affordable housing, homelessness and education. Ige has listed his “action plans” for almost a dozen issues including the budget, agriculture and energy. Hannemann has highlighted stories about development and Davis has offered platitudes about prosperity.

It’s the same situation for those running for Congress, whether it’s Tulsi Gabbard, the shoo-in Democratic candidate for the 2nd Congressional District, or the tight race between Republican Charles Djou and Democrat Mark Takai to represent the 1st Congressional District. They talk a lot about a host of different issues, but not drugs.

This stands in stark contrast to the way drugs dominated political agendas in the past, even as recently as four years ago.

When he ran for governor in 2010, Aiona’s campaign made a video dedicated to drug prevention programs.

“As governor, I’ll put together all the resources I can to prevent the problem from happening in the first place,” Aiona said in the ad, one of a few that targeted specific issues.

This time around, Aiona, who lost the 2010 election to Gov. Neil Abercrombie, is making campaign videos that highlight government transparency, the cost of living and his role as a mentor for youth.

As far as drugs go, Aiona has noted this election that he served as the Drug Court program’s first judge in 1996 and that he ordered the first Drug Control Strategy Summit in 2003 as lieutenant governor. But he hasn’t offered any plans or policies regarding the issue going forward.

Drugs became a big part of Hannemann’s campaign for mayor in 2004 after his opponent unveiled a detailed plan. But all his talk about creating drop-in drug treatment centers, expanding programs to keep kids off drugs and ideas on how to target crystal meth are absent this election.

From left, Mufi Hannemann, Duke Aiona, Jeff Davis and David Ige mingle before a gubernatorial candidates forum, Aug. 26, 2014.

PF Bentley/Civil Beat

Alan Shinn, executive director of the nonprofit Coalition for a Drug-Free Hawaii, said a huge ice epidemic in the early 2000s made it a hot-button issue for candidates seeking office. The ultimate result was positive, he said, noting the additional resources for prevention and treatment that followed.

“Unfortunately, they haven’t solved the problem,” Shinn said. “Ice is definitely still around … but it kind of fell off the radar.”

The candidates seeking office this year certainly care about the impact of drug use in Hawaii and likely have ideas on how to handle the issue. It just hasn’t been a priority this election to articulate any of that to voters.

Homelessness, natural disasters, domestic violence, development and the economy have dominated headlines this election season — all important issues, but drugs have been left out nonetheless.

“If there’s no media attention, there’s less education out there — especially for our kids and families,” Shinn said. 

Civil Beat reached out to Aiona, Ige, Hannemann, Gabbard, Takai and Djou for comment on why their campaigns haven’t focused on the drug issue this election.

“If there’s no media attention, there’s less education out there.” — Alan Shinn, Coalition for a Drug-Free Hawaii

Based on some of their responses, it seems, as Kaneshiro suggested, that no one wants to talk about drugs if it can be avoided.

Ige’s campaign spokeswoman, Lynn Kenton, said it’s just not an issue their campaign wants to politicize.

“I’d say it’s not an issue this year because it’s not headline news right now,” she said. 

Kenton provided a comment from Ige in case other candidates commented. Some did, so here is Ige’s:

“While other issues may dominate the news and our lives at times, we must continually work to eliminate the dangers and usage of illegal drugs in our communities.”

Aiona’s press secretary, Dawn O’Brien, noted that Aiona was the “architect of the successful Drug Court program” as well as his service on the Advisory Commission on Drug Free Communities and Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free.

O’Brien pointed out that Aiona has already released three key policy issues, although none of them dealt with drugs. She added that the campaign is “working on the compelling issue of drugs in our island ohana, an issue that Mr. Aiona has always taken positive and proactive action upon.”

Djou’s press secretary, Jon Kunimura, said the discussion on illegal drugs has been sidelined because “Charles’ campaign has made issues on tackling Hawaii’s cost of living, job creation and taking care of our children higher priorities.”

Takai’s campaign spokesman, Alex Hetherington, was still working on finding time in Takai’s schedule for him to share his thoughts on the issue.