Senate Committee on Health (HTH) - chair: Ige, vice chair: Fukunaga

Friday, February 9, 2007, 1:15 p.m. Rm. 016

Testifier: Suzanne Meisenzahl, Chair, Women’s Health & Safety Committee, LWV-Hawaii

Click here to view SB1119

The League of Women Voters strongly supports S.B.1119, which appropriates funding for a state drug policy study in order to provide the legislature with information to develop a comprehensive drug policy. The League of Women Voters of Hawaii, and other Leagues around the country, question current drug policy. Is it time for a new approach? The League of Women Voters in Seattle is a member of the steering committee of the Kings County Bar Association Drug Project. See their website seattle.wa.lwv.org publications index for a summary of the report - Is It Time to End the War on Drugs. In Hawaii some of the many questions that need to be addressed are: Should drug abuse be viewed as a public health problem and not just a criminal matter? To what extent is drug abuse the reason for Hawaii’s prison overcrowding and the need for using mainland prisons? Are prevention and treatment programs more effective in reducing drug abuse than expensive criminal sanctions? Do current policies take a heavier toll on disadvantaged communities than on others, exacerbating the social conditions that created drug abuse in the first place? Do pregnant women with histories of substance use have access to programs and facilities equipped to provide prenatal, deliver, and postpartum care? Is violence against women and other circumstances, specific to women’s involvement in drug-related activities, overlooked or ignored? We urge you to support S.B.1119. Thank you for this opportunity to support this bill.