New Mexico Governor Clarifies Drugs Position

By MATT KELLEY Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) –

"I don't see legalization of dangerous drugs any time soon,'' Johnson told reporters after speaking for drug legalization at the libertarian Cato Institute.

Johnson, a Republican in his second term, drew strong criticism from anti-drug leaders last week when he became the first sitting governor to advocate legalized narcotics.

Johnson said the nation's war on drugs has been a multibillion-dollar failure that throws too many people in prison.

"I'm not pro-drug here. I'm against drugs,'' Johnson told his Cato audience. "Should you go to jail for just doing drugs? I say no. I say you shouldn't.

"Control it. Regulate it. Tax it. If we legalize it, we just might have a better society.''

White House drug policy director Barry McCaffrey plans to speak Thursday in Albuquerque in opposition to Johnson's stand.

(Marijuananews note: This demonstrates the defensiveness of the prohibitionists. He should just say that Johnson is a "lame duck" governor whose opinions are irrelevant. Instead, he is giving more publicity. The prohibitionists are terrified by dissent. They have no experience with it.)

"The agenda espoused by people like Governor Johnson would put more drugs into the hands of children and make drugs more available on our nation's streets,'' McCaffrey said Friday.

See
Final Report Of Dutch National Drug Use Survey Will Require New Lies From The Drug Czar:
Their Lifetime Cannabis Use Half of DEAland’s; Two-Thirds That of UK

Last week, Johnson said he favors legalizing marijuana and heroin. During discussions this week with groups pressing for changes in drug laws, he has said that legalizing any drug, along with the correct restrictions, could cause use of that drug to remain level or decline.

Johnson said he views marijuana - which he admits he smoked as a young man - as less dangerous than tobacco or alcohol.

See
A Remarkable Article Comparing The Effects of Marijuana and Alcohol On Driving
and
New Survey And Shalala Says, "It looks like we have turned the corner."
Maybe Because We Have Been Around This Block Before?
The Emphasis Is On Marijuana But Alcohol Remains The Big Problem

"Marijuana is never going to have the devastating effects on us that alcohol and tobacco have on us,'' Johnson said. ``If marijuana is legalized, alcohol abuse goes down, because people will have a substance choice.''

He said marijuana is the best candidate to be legalized first, followed by more dangerous drugs such as heroin or cocaine, the other illegal drug Johnson has admitted having used.

Those dangerous drugs, Johnson said, should have even more restrictions on their sale and use than marijuana, such as perhaps requiring a doctor's prescription and being administered in a hospital or clinic.

"I don't want to see it in grocery stores,'' Johnson told reporters. ``I'm assuming that wouldn't happen. The more dangerous the perception of the drug, the more control there would be.''

With marijuana, Johnson said he foresees a time when states will regulate its sale and distribution as they now regulate hard liquor, which some states restrict to state-owned stores and others allow in private outlets. The federal or state governments could take over the growing, distributing and selling, Johnson said.

"If that doesn't decrease drug use, I don't know what will,'' he joked.

Other constraints, Johnson said, should include restricting drug sales to those over 21 and increasing penalties for crimes committed under the influence of drugs.

Johnson said public reaction in calls and letters to his office has been running "97 to 3'' in favor of his position, but he doubts he could get a drug legalization measure through the New Mexico legislature.

"As I stand here right now, I don't see that as being possible,'' Johnson said. ``I see that as a federal issue.''

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - White House drug czar Barry McCaffrey Tuesday accused the governor of New Mexico of ignorance and irresponsibility in calling for the legalization of marijuana and heroin.

Responding to Republican Gov. Gary Johnson's radical alternative to the ``expensive failure'' of the war on drugs, McCaffrey told reporters: ``I am astonished. Gov. Johnson in New Mexico is acting in an irresponsible manner. This is the same governor last year who vetoed a $2.6 million drug treatment program.

"Obviously the governor hasn't seen the nature of drug addiction in the same manner that drug treatment professionals in that state and law enforcement have encountered,'' said McCaffrey.

Johnson, a 46-year-old triathlon athlete who admits having used drugs in college, said last week that legalizing drugs could be the best way to fight abuse. Saying his goal was to reduce drug use in United States, Johnson suggested that legalization would allow the government to regulate them as it does alcohol and tobacco.

McCaffrey, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said the number of heroin-related deaths in New Mexico had doubled the national average in recent years.

"The problem isn't that they (drugs) are illegal. The problem is that they are ferociously addictive and they make people act in a compulsive manner.

They make them unemployable and they get them involved in permanently altered and impaired brain function. That's the problem with these drugs,'' McCaffrey said.

(Marijuananews note: But the Czar recently told us that 70% of "drug users" are employed. That is why we have to drug test everyone, so they will get fired and go on unemployment and lose their homes. That will then prove that the Czar is always right.)
See
ACLU Report Urges End To Workplace Drug Tests;
Government Says 70 Percent Of Drug Users Are Fully Employed
NORML Weekly Press Release

"In a democracy everyone is welcome to debate these notions. But if you are going to be a public official it seems to me you have to have informed and rational perspectives.''

See
The Drug Czar’s Testimony On "The Drug Legalization Movement In America" Has Three Parts:
Lie About The Anti-Prohibitionist Movement; Lie About Marijuana; Lie About The Netherlands.
With A Little Lying About Me.
and
Drug Czar Uses Foreign Affairs Magazine Article For Anti-Dutch Propaganda,
Elevating The Lying To Official Status. Analysis By Richard Cowan