Hawaiian Crystal Meth Explosion Caused by Cannabis Crackdown

A cannabis crackdown in Hawaii in the 80s forced large numbers of marijuana smokers to switch to ice (a smokeable form of methamphetamine) according to a report in this week's Hawaii Tribune Herald. The newspaper unearthed an apparently buried report from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) which suggested that many local pot smokers had switched to the highly addictive and destructive drug following the introduction of a government marijuana eradication campaign in 1984.

"Ice replaced marijuana, which had become scarce and expensive due to eradication policies," the NIDA report claimed.

"Residents were both pushed away from pakalolo (marijuana), their staple drug
of choice, and pulled toward ice by a well organized marketing campaign by Asian distributors."

The Herald article was seized on by the Drug Policy Alliance who suggested that the newspaper must have somehow obtained a hard copy of the NIDA report, since the Government backed organisation had failed to post it on their website.

http://www.drugpolicy.org
Tags

• marijuana
• aphetamine