KAILUA-KONA — John Callery sees hope in an otherwise dark subject.
While countless communities across the nation have been losing the fight to the opioid addiction epidemic, the special agent in charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration believes Hawaii will beat it.
And he makes no bones about proclaiming it.
“I’m telling you, to your face, this is going to get better,” Callery told the room of law enforcement professionals at Monday’s Police Commissioners’ Conference at King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel. “I guarantee it.”
Callery has worked in the Honolulu office since September. The 30-year law enforcement veteran has battled the addiction problem in Los Angeles and has seen communities like Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Dublin, Ohio, that have lost the fight.
Hawaii’s overdose death rate per capita matches that of San Diego and Los Angeles counties at 16-18 per 100,000 people in 2016, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That’s significant, he said, but it doesn’t mean doom.
“The sky is not falling in Hawaii,” he said. “We’re in good shape here.”
Callery outlined in a no-bones-about-it delivery the agency’s approach to shrink Hawaii’s per capita death rate and clean up what’s been a major problem across the country.
The three-pronged approach involves education, enforcement and continuing drug take-back initiatives where the public can turn in prescription pills as a safe way to get them out of the house.
“This is for real,” Callery said. “This really works.”
Combating the problem is more than arresting a drug dealer — it’s going after everyone involved.
Called the Diversion Division, the agency has agents who specialize just in investigations and audits, and the six-person crew in Hawaii (triple what it was a year ago) is looking into pharmacies, doctors, couriers and anyone else who plays a part in getting the highly addictive pain pills out into the public.
“There are some long-in-the tooth pharmacies that are going to get a wake-up call,” he said.
In fact, the DEA has closed down a few over-prescribing pharmacies in the state already, including the Open Door Pharmacy in Honolulu, and more will come. In the next six months, news clips will show more arrests, he promised. But it won’t be the drug dealer picture on the TV or in the newspaper that one might expect.
“It’s not going to be some MS13 dude,” Callery said. “It’s going to be a doctor.”
The Department of Justice has already levied fines against Google for allowing searches on dark websites that involve illegal drug ordering, and the U.S. Postal Service for continued delivery to addresses the DOJ wanted blocked. CVS has also been fined and the agency is talking with FedEx on stopping drug shipments.
“All the other playmates that allow this to go on,” he called the multi-layered system of how many different hands play a part in getting drugs from the lab to the street. “We’re not going to stop.”
Callery said he sees Hawaii as a state that is primed to win the fight. The number one complaint the state pharmacy regulation board hears is from citizens bemoaning the fact they can’t get their meds, which is a positive sign that pharmacies are overly cautious, if anything.
Education will continue as will the nationwide prescription turn-in days, where the public can turn in prescription pills as a safe way to get them out of the house. CDC stats show 85 percent of Oxycontin addicts who started under the age of 21 began by taking pills they found inside their homes. This year’s effort netted 6,000 pounds of medication. He said he expects that number to be down next year because there will be less of it getting out in the first place.
“If I get 6,000 pounds next year, next time, something’s wrong,” he said. “I guarantee you it’s going to get better.”