A smokeable drug called "ice" is a major problem in Hawaii and could become a greater threat than cocaine, officials say.
"The ice problem is so bad that crack pales by comparison," Honolulu Police Chief Douglas G. Gibb told a House panel Tuesday. "Ice is cheaper to produce, gives users a very long, steady high, and is more addictive than heroin."U.S. Attorney Daniel Bent told the House Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control, "I think we have an epidemic."
The hearing focused on the Asian-produced crystalline form of methamphetamine that has hit Hawaii and some cities on the West Coast, and on the re-emergence of powdered methamphetamine, known as "crank," "speed" and "meth."
Although ice is more expensive than cocaine, selling for as much as $7,000 for a full ounce, drug users consider it more economical because it lasts longer, Bent said. He and Gibb said the high lasts four to 14 hours.
San Diego Police Chief Bob Burgreen said regular methamphetamine - which can be smoked and provides the same high as ice, according to experts - can be produced for about $1,000 a pound and sold in bulk for $5,000 a pound. On the street, Burgreen said, one-eighth of an ounce can sell for as much as $200.
He said the process to transform regular methamphetamine into the popular and more expensive ice "is relatively simple."
"Ice is odorless and can be smoked in public with little danger of detection," Gibb said. "This factor, as well as the long-lasting high and the ready availability of the drug, have made it the drug of choice for on-the-job use in Honolulu."
The increase in the drug's popularity is evident not only in the increase in arrests - the caseload is up 75 percent over last year and there are two ice cases for every cocaine case - but also in hospital admissions, he said.
"Last year, one of Honolulu's major hospitals averaged one ice overdose a day; this year there have been half a dozen a day," Gibb said.
Since 1985, he said, 32 deaths in Honolulu have been attributed to ice, while in the first six months of 1989 there were eight homicides and seven suicides connected to the drug.