State and federal officials yesterday cited several trends that they say indicate a reduction of crystal methamphetamine activity in Hawai'i.

According to statistics from the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, the number of meth labs discovered in the state decreased from 17 in 2005 to two this year, Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona announced.

He attributed the decrease largely to recent laws that make it more difficult for people to purchase large quantities of pseudoephedrine, an active ingredient in home-based meth production.

Yesterday's announcement from officials, which coincided with the end of October as Crime Prevention Month, is in stark contrast to five years ago, when U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo declared that Hawai'i had the worst crystal meth problem in the country.

Kubo said yesterday Hawai'i no longer holds that distinction. Instead, Oregon is considered the state with the worst crystal meth problem, as of last year, Kubo said.

Crystal methamphetamine, also known as "batu" and "ice," is thought to be more addictive than cocaine and harder to kick than heroin. It is known to cause irreversible brain damage and can make users psychotic, paranoid, schizophrenic and violent.

Kubo said he believes the state's effort to reduce the meth problem through aggressively pursuing drug traffickers and meth labs is working.

Meth use in the workplace has also dropped, according to statistics gathered for the state by Diagnostic Laboratory Services, the state's largest drug testing company. In the third quarter of 2007, workplace meth use declined by 25 percent.

Officials also said there are fewer people in drug treatment centers who identify "ice" as their drug of choice.

According to figures from the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division of the state Department of Health, 48.2 percent of adults in treatment centers identified meth as their drug of choice compared with 50.2 percent in 2004.

Aiona said there has been a "significant reduction" in property crimes over the past several years. For example, from 2005 to 2006, property crimes dropped by 12 percent, he said. And over the past 10 years, there has been a 24.5 percent drop in property crimes, he said.

"Many experts will tell you that property crimes are linked to drug use; thus, we are very excited about this reduction," Aiona said.

Meanwhile, Kubo announced that the 'Ewa Weed and Seed program was recognized as the National Crime Prevention Award of the Year. The program was one of six out of 58 nominees nationwide to receive the award, he said.

Weed and Seed is a U.S. Department of Justice program designed to clean up crime in neighborhoods and increase community involvement through citizen patrols and other efforts. 'Ewa became a Weed and Seed site in 2002.

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.