Apparent Drug Use at Evacuation Shelter ‘Upsetting’

There have been quite a few complaints about the evacuation shelters and how they are being run. Now complaints are coming in about the evacuees who are using the shelters.

A Hawai‘i County Park employee reported finding drug paraphernalia, syringes and other items while cleaning tents at the Pāhoa evacuation shelter.

Paraphernalia found at the Pāhoa evacuation shelter, July 20, 2018. Courtesy photo.

Found at the Pāhoa evacuation shelter, July 20, 2018. Courtesy photo

The park employee stated, “Recovered this at the [Pāhoa] shelter today. I found these cleaning up tents. This drives me crazy, because this is where kids are raised and this is the stuff you find our fields—what happens when we reopen and a kid falls in a soccer game and picks up a needle in his or her knees.”