I'm bumping this thread it light of the relatively recent (9/29/09) earthquake and tsunami which damaged the independent formerly administrated by NZ (and Germany bfore that) nation of Western Samoa (or Commonwealth of Samoa) as I believe it is now officially known. The US territory of American Samoa was also effected including the tragic loss of life. Sadly, news of this got buryed quickly due to natural disasters happening elsewhere right after wards so they were considered more newswarry. The fact that some news filtered in after the tragedy in indonesia on local news probably is because there is a relatively large Samoan population in Oceanside and National City both in the San Diego area. What annoyed me about the lack of coverage is that one of my best friends from highschool's dad lived in Samoa (moved there before super restrictive laws against non Samoan natives), had a few Samoan friends (my home town of San Jose had a big expatriate community), and American Samoan is US soil so people should care enough about what goes on there that there should be more national news coverage when dozens die in a natural disaster that occured within a part of the US, even if a majority of Americans have no clue the American Samoa is part of the US (having the Status of a United States Territory.) Bet yoy that New Zeland did more to help out their
former territory or atleast heard more about the day to day situation there in the news.
In honor of the disaster in that part of the South Pacific, I am ressurectibg the thread I started on South Pacific drug scenes. Wonder how the tsunami is going to effect the ice scene. Or the scene for buds. Apparently, a good chunk of Samoan dank was grown in Western Samoa.
Most Samoans I knew growing up were really nice but you
never fucked with their families. My best friend in 98' was from American Samoa heart of Gold, but 6'6'', muscles, and loyal, even though he had a heroin/ crack habit, didn't get a scandalous as the average user- I could still trust and he saved my ass one time. Lost touch but his ex girl friend told me he hasn't been doing well

.
My white friend brought back some great Samoan Sativa in highschool. Guess there are customs to get in there but not comming back to mainland back then.
So whats the word in the South Pacific. What are your guys story. Stories about North pacific island nations (Guam, micronesia, Marshall Tslands, Palau welcomed too.)
Here's an article written by the feds. I recomend following link- couple of pictures and charts that are so so but interesting.
Office of National Drug Control Policy
Drug Policy Information Clearinghouse
American Samoa
Profile of Drug Indicators
May 2004
ONDCP
American Samoa
The following profile contains information on demographics, political figures, programs,
crime, drug use, drug trafficking, and enforcement statistics.
Demographics
�� Population: 57,291 (2000 Census)1; 70,260 (July 2003 estimate)2
�� Ethnicity (2000 Census): 1.1% white, 0.0% black/African American; 2.8% Asian;
91.6% Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander; 0.2% other race; 4.2% two or more
races3
�� Geography: American Samoa is located in Oceania, which is group of islands in the
South Pacific Ocean, halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand.4
Politics
�� Governor: Togiola Tulafono 5
�� Lt. Governor: Ipulasi Aitofele Sunia6
�� Attorney General: Fiti Sunia7
�� U.S. House of Representatives: Eni F.H. Faleomavaega8
�� Capital: Pago Pago9
�� American Samoa is an unincorporated and unorganized territory of the United
States.10
Federal Funding
�� Drug-Free Communities Support Program grantees in American Samoa:11
Since FY 1998 when funding was first available, American Samoa has not received
funding for the Drug-Free Communities Support Program.
�� FY 2003 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Formula and
Discretionary Grant summary for American Samoa:12
• Center for Mental Health Services: $50,000
• Center for Substance Abuse Prevention: $238,224
• Center for Substance Abuse Treatment: $0
�� FY 2004 Byrne Formula Grant Program amount awarded to American Samoa:
$926,72213
�� There were no grant recipients of the FY 2003 Office of Justice Programs Drug Court
Grant in American Samoa.14
�� FY 1996-2002 Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) for State Prisoners
Formula Grant amount allocated to American Samoa:
• FY 1996: $100,18615
• FY 1997: $111,86216
• FY 1998: $240,41717
• FY 1999: $235,10018
• FY 2000: $235,21019
• FY 2001: $235,72220
• FY 2002: $261,42721
• FY 2003: $240,93022
ONDCP Clearinghouse 3
�� There were no recipients in American Samoa of the FY 2003 Office of Community
Oriented Policing and Services (COPS) Methamphetamine Grant.23
�� There were no recipients in American Samoa of the FY 2001 Housing and Urban
Development Drug Elimination Grant.24
�� Office of Justice Programs and Community Oriented Policing Services total grant
amounts received in American Samoa (by funding category):25
• Communities (discretionary): $0
• Counter-terrorism (discretionary): $1 million
• Juvenile Justice:
�� discretionary: $0.8 million
�� formula: $0.2 million
• Law Enforcement:
�� discretionary: $1.1 million
�� formula: $1.1 million
• Substance Abuse:
�� discretionary: $0
�� formula: $1.1 million
• Victims:
�� discretionary: $0
�� formula: 0.3 million
• Total OJP/COPS funds received in American Samoa in FY 2002: $5.6 million
Crime and Drug-Related Crime
�� Narcotic offenses in American Samoa have increased from 15 during 1996 to 34
during 2000.26
Number of Offenses Known to Law Enforcement, American Samoa, 1996-2000
Selected Offenses 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Arson 13 9 4 3 4
Assault (1st and 2nd ) 389 418 449 381 316
Burglary 255 249 262 251 247
Criminal homicide 4 6 2 4 2
Forcible rape 15 6 12 16 13
Larceny 128 167 157 122 89
Motor vehicle theft 5 12 12 6 4
Robbery 7 6 12 3 2
DUI 188 124 121 158 207
Narcotics 15 15 22 29 34
Total offenses 2,666 3,389 3,428 3,151 2,784
�� Local law enforcement officials attribute a rise in violent crime to the rising
methamphetamine problem.27
�� American Samoan authorities report that cannabis cultivation is a significant local
problem.28
ONDCP Clearinghouse 4
Drugs
�� Marijuana and methamphetamine are the two major drugs of concern in American
Samoa.29
�� While marijuana is the most widely used illegal drug, methamphetamine causes the
most problems in American Samoa.30
�� Most methamphetamine users prefer to smoke the extremely pure (90-100% pure)
crystal methamphetamine form known as “ice”.31
�� The street price of “ice” in American Samoa is five times the price in Honolulu. In
American Samoa, the price can range from $50-75 per one-fifth of a gram, versus $50
for a gram in Honolulu.32
�� A single cigarette (“joint”) of Western Samoan marijuana sold in American Samoa
costs from $25-35. Much of the marijuana found in American Samoa comes from
Western Samoa.33
Juveniles
�� During 2001, 31.8% of American Samoa high school students reported using
marijuana at least once in their lifetime.34
Percent of High School Students Using Selected Drugs, American Samoa, 2001
Male Female Total
Lifetime marijuana use 37.0% 27.1% 31.8%
Current marijuana use 24.2 19.7 21.7
Lifetime cocaine use 5.1 5.1 5.1
Current cocaine use 2.9 3.6 3.2
Lifetime inhalant use 12.0 8.9 10.4
Current inhalant use 6.1 5.5 5.7
Lifetime heroin use 4.1 3.1 3.6
Lifetime methamphetamine use 7.5 6.7 7.1
Lifetime illegal steroid use 9.5 6.6 7.9
Lifetime injection of illegal drug 3.8 3.1 3.4
Tired marijuana before age 13 9.1 5.5 7.2
�� Juvenile narcotic offenses have increased from 1 during 1996 to 7 during 2000.35
Number of Juvenile Offenses Know to Law Enforcement, American Samoa, 1996-2000
Selected Offenses 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Assault 23 8 23 30 20
Auto theft 1 2 - - -
Burglary 27 32 48 45 33
Larceny 14 20 19 26 17
Murder - 1 - - -
Rape 1 - - 1 1
Robbery 1 - 1 3 -
ONDCP Clearinghouse 5
Drugs 1 - 4 7 7
Total 147 192 265 247 221
Enforcement
�� American Samoa Office of Territorial and International Criminal Intelligence and
Drug Enforcement (OTICIDE)36
OTICIDE is responsible for the gathering of intelligence information and
enforcement of laws governing drug trafficking, white-collar crimes and related
criminal activities. OTICIDE also investigates and coordinates the flow of criminal
information with Federal, State, territorial, regional, and international law
enforcement agencies.
�� South Pacific Islands Criminal Intelligence Network (SPICIN)37
SPICIN works to support the member police forces of the South Pacific Chiefs of
Police Conference (SPCPC) in the information gathering, development and
dissemination of crime-related information through the timely analysis and sharing of
intelligence vital to law enforcement within the Pacific region. Members of the
SPICIN include: American Samoa, Australia, the Commonwealth of Northern
Mariana Islands (Saipan), Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji,
French Polynesia (Tahiti), Guam, Kiribati, the Kingdom of Tonga, Marshall Islands,
Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua - New Guinea, Solomon
Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Western Samoa
Trafficking and Seizures38
�� Drug trafficking organizations and criminal groups often use the mail system (the US
Postal Service), commercial airlines, and cargo vessels to smuggle drugs to American
Samoa.
�� According to law enforcement sources, methamphetamine labs may be present on
American Samoa’s islands.
�� Most of the methamphetamine available in American Samoa comes from Hawaii.
�� During FY 2000 (July 1, 1999 to June 30, 2000), territorial customs officials
confiscated over 200 pounds of methamphetamine in American Samoa.
�� Aside from local cultivators, much of the marijuana in American Samoa comes from
Western Samoa, a neighboring independent nation.
�� During FY 2000, territorial customs officials seized more than 10,000 pounds of
marijuana in 22 seizures at the airport and ferry terminals.
�� In October 2000, local customs officials seized more than 35 pounds of marijuana
from a Western Samoa government-owned cargo vessel.
Courts
�� In 1999, American Samoa legislature passed laws making the possession of even
small amounts of illegal drugs punishable by long jail terms with no possibility of
parole.39
�� First time offenders who commit a possession offense receive a mandatory five-year
sentence with no possibility of parole.40
�� During 2000, a total of 9,469 cases were filed in the District Court of American
Samoa. About 87 percent were disposed of before the ending of the year.41
ONDCP Clearinghouse 6
�� There were 9,469 district court cases filed and 8,193 cases disposed in American
Samoa during 2000.42
�� Of the 668 cases filed in the High Court of American Samoa, 420 cases were
disposed before the end of the year. About 2,762 cases were pending from the
previous year.43
Corrections
�� During 1999, the average inmate population in the Tafuna Correctional facility was 150 (4)
check link for sources
http://www.hawaii.edu/hivandaids/American_Samoa_Profile_of_Drug_Indicators_2004.pdf
Please guys, what more can you guys provide about the drug scenes there. Hungry for stories. As far as the Samoas go, how is life comming along there.