REPORT TITLE:
Substance Abuse Appropriation


DESCRIPTION:
Appropriates $1 in FY2000-2001 and FY2001-2002 for substance
abuse treatment, counseling, and intervention services at Waipahu
high school.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        2874
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR DRUG TREATMENT, COUNSELING, AND
   INTERVENTION SERVICES AT WAIPAHU HIGH SCHOOL.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The purpose of this Act is to appropriate moneys
 
 2 to Teen Care to provide substance abuse treatment, counseling,
 
 3 and intervention services to certain substance-abusing youth at
 
 4 Waipahu high school.
 
 5      SECTION 2.  There exists a critical need for drug treatment,
 
 6 counseling, and intervention services at the high school level,
 
 7 particularly at Waipahu high school in the leeward district of
 
 8 Oahu.  There has been an increase in the number of students who
 
 9 have been identified or suspended under Act 90, Session Laws of
 
10 Hawaii 1996, for substance-related issues or possession.
 
11      The town of Waipahu has been designated as the next "Weed
 
12 and Seed" area by a federal program.  The "weed" portion of the
 
13 program will help to eliminate drug trafficking in the area.  The
 
14 "seed" portion of the program will help the community to provide
 
15 services to habilitate the community to prevent the sale and use
 
16 of drugs by citizens in the area.  Waipahu high school has
 
17 already been in contact with other agencies to provide "seed"
 
18 services to assist students who live in the area and are
 
19 designated as marginal groups in the larger school population.
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        


 1      Results of the 1998 Hawaii Student Alcohol and Drug Use
 
 2 Study administered to tenth and twelfth graders at Waipahu high
 
 3 school reveal that seventy-one per cent of the tenth graders and
 
 4 sixty-seven per cent of the twelfth graders have tried tobacco at
 
 5 least once in their lives.  Forty-two per cent of the tenth
 
 6 graders and twenty-five per cent of the twelfth graders smoke
 
 7 cigarettes on a regular basis.  A number of suspensions have to
 
 8 do with cigarette smoking or possession of related items.  Of the
 
 9 tenth graders, thirty-seven per cent admit to being drunk and
 
10 fifty-eight per cent of the twelfth graders also admit to being
 
11 drunk at least once in their lifetime.  About thirty-nine per
 
12 cent of the tenth graders and forty-six per cent of the twelfth
 
13 graders have used illicit drugs at least once in their young
 
14 lives.  One of the more popular drugs is marijuana.  Within the
 
15 last thirty days before the survey was administered, seventeen
 
16 per cent of the twelfth graders and sixteen per cent of the tenth
 
17 graders admitted to having used marijuana at least once.
 
18      The Hina Mauka program will be another "seed" which would be
 
19 a valuable asset at the high school for students in need of
 
20 substance abuse treatment, counseling, and intervention services.
 
21 Waipahu high school will provide a space and a telephone line as
 
22 a commitment to the program, while the department of health will
 
23 provide two full-time counselors to work with students.  Having
 

 
Page 3                                                     2874
                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        


 1 the program on campus will enable students to continue their high
 
 2 school education with minimal interruption to their studies.
 
 3 Presently, alternative sites for education need to be arranged
 
 4 for students who have been caught.
 
 5      The Safe and Drug Free Team at Waipahu high school has been
 
 6 working on a plan to increase services to students and staff to
 
 7 develop a safe and drug free campus.  Staff inservice on gangs
 
 8 and drugs have been presented at two faculty meetings.  After a
 
 9 drug presentation, the Hawaii Masons Union provided t-shirts
 
10 during the 1998-1999 and 1999-2000 school years to all students
 
11 who signed contracts to be drug free.  Project SMILE promotes
 
12 healthy and drug-free lifestyles through drama and dance
 
13 presentations for the public, and its sports clinics and reading
 
14 programs in the elementary schools.  The REACH program, under the
 
15 Assembly Committee, runs an annual program in helping students to
 
16 achieve positive, realistic goals within the school year.  They
 
17 also plan motivational assemblies for the entire student body.
 
18      SECTION 3.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
19 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $90,000, or so much
 
20 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2000-2001, for drug
 
21 treatment, counseling, and intervention services provided to
 
22 certain substance-abusing youth at Waipahu high school.  The
 
23 federal money from the tobacco industry may be applied to this
 

 
Page 4                                                     2874
                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        


 1 appropriation.
 
 2      SECTION 4.  The sum appropriated shall be expended by the
 
 3 department of health for the purposes of this Act.
 
 4      SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2000.
 
 5 
 
 6                         INTRODUCED BY: __________________________
 
 7 
 
 8                                        __________________________