These members include:

• Rep. Cindy Evans
• Rep. Tom Brower
• Rep. Della Au Belatti
• Rep. Karen Awana
• Rep. Joe Bertram III
• Rep. Jerry Chang
• Rep. Corinne Ching
• Rep. Faye Hanohano
• Rep. Michael Magaoay
• Rep. Ken Ito
• Rep. Marilyn Lee
• Rep. Roy Takumi

These representatives have seen past the perfidious corporate lobbyists opposing this Resolution on commercial grounds, for fear their products might be impugned or questioned. I also warmly acknowledge and thank Mele Carroll for listening to her constituents enough to bring this Resolution and the bill to ban aspartame forward.

The people of Hawaii need to know that last September, parents in British Columbia, Canada, prevailed upon their Education Ministry to ban all artificial sweeeteners in the elementary and middle schools, even though Health Canada, the equivalent of the FDA, still approves the products.

Apparently the parents in BC have been paying more attention to the massive evidence of neurotoxicity and carcinogenicity than the responsible officials in Ottawa, Canada's Capital.

Similarly, parents in Hawaii should be doing the same. Unfortunately, Hawaii residents have another hurdle to overcome as Health Department Director, Dr. Fukino, has done little more than parrot industry mantras about how those 200 industry-paid-for "studies" "prove" aspartame to be "safe."

Hawaii isn't the only state considering action on aspartame. Just last week, on Friday, March 5, the State of California Office of Environmental Hazards announced that its Carcinogen Identification Committee will consider labeling aspartame as a chemical that causes cancer, and to require labeling as such. The comment period is open till the end of May, and I encourage Representatives, Senators, physicians and health oriented people into organic foods, to take the time to submit testimony.

This also puts on legal notice the aspartame makers like Ajinomoto and the corporations that add it to their products while knowing full well that the formaldehyde it metabolizes into causes cancer and serious neurodegenerative illnesses. This is all according to Proposition 65, which recently resulted in the State of California suing Whole Foods because they covered up a known carcinogen in their 365 Body Care products, like soaps and lotions.

I strongly recommend Hawaii residents get involved, speak with your lawmakers and ask them to cosign and cosponsor this important Resolution of Mele Carroll, which will be turned in next Wednesday and then assigned a number. If your representative has signed it already, call the representatives in the neighboring districts and any whom you might already know personally.

I am particularly concerned about the Chairman and the Vice Chairman of the House Health Committee, the first committee assignment for such a Resolution. Chair Ryan Yamane and Vice Chair Scott Nishimoto declined to even schedule a hearing on the bill to ban aspartame earlier in the session, as did Senator David Ige of Pearl City. This is pretty shocking as obstructionist behaviour in any legislator, and perhaps if readers in their House and Senate Districts also spoke to these legislators and made them realize that this is a deadly serious consumer protection effort, we might seem some meaningful results from these 2 reps and one state senator (from Pearl City), because to date we have seen none.

If you Representative is on the Consumer Committee, where such a resolution would go next, Chairman Robert Herkes and Vice Chair McKelvey need to hear from you as well.

A similar Senate Resolution is languishing in Senator Ige's Committee, Senate Resolution 13, sponsored by Senator Suzanne Chun Oakland. Ige killed a bill to ban last year and this year, and killed the same Resolution last year also sponsored by Suzanne Chun Oakland.

Stephen Fox is the Editor of the New Mexico Sun News in Santa Fe, New Mexico

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