SHEEHAN TALKS ABOUT DRUGS ON TV SHOW

Archbishop Michael Sheehan has a part in an upcoming national broadcast on
drugs, discussing how the Archdiocese of Santa Fe is dealing with the drug
problem in New Mexico.

Carol Gibson, a Bush administration policy analyst, interviewed Sheehan
during a videotaping last week at the Archdiocese of Santa Fe offices. She
is a representative of the White House's office of National Drug Control
Policy.

Gibson talked to Sheehan about the drug problem in New Mexico, specifically
heroin, as well as his plans to hold drug hearings this month and in August
in four communities. The effort is called "From Despair to Hope."

Sheehan has dedicated the forums to the memory of Karen Castanon of Arroyo
Seco and Ricky Martinez of La Villita. They were killed on Good Friday in
2000 on the walk of faith to Santuario de Chimayo, near Espanola, by a
young man police said was under the influence of drugs.

"We, indeed, hope that much good comes from these hearings," he said during
the videotaping.

The archbishop said he became more aware of the drug situation during his
visits to prisons and jails. He said a great majority of inmates — possibly
80 percent — have a problem with drugs or alcohol.

"Their being there is related to drugs and the abuse of drugs," Sheehan
said. "So it's just a heinous problem that, obviously, I don't have the
answers to, but I want to cooperate with others in dealing with this
serious problem."

He told Gibson he chose to have hearings because he wanted to listen to
what people have to say about their drug-impacted lives.

Sheehan said the hearings will be similar to what Bishop Ricardo Ramirez of
Las Cruces used in a forum on domestic violence.

Besides the archbishop, Gibson talked with several other people who deal
with the drug problem.

She said 90-minute programs on methamphetamine, a stimulant, and Ecstasy, a
synthetic drug with hallucinogenic and amphetamine-like effects, already
have aired nationally.

The program on heroin, "Heroin: What's the Real Dope?", will be broadcast
July 19. A program on marijuana will be shown later this summer.

If you go

WHAT: "From Despair To Hope," four community hearings conducted by the
Archdiocese of Santa Fe

WHEN AND WHERE: July 14, 9 a.m.-noon, Santa Cruz de la Canada Parish Hall,
100 Church St., Santa Cruz, just south of Espanola (753-3345); July 15, 2-5
p.m., St. Joseph on the Rio Grande Church, 5901 St. Joseph Drive NW,
Albuquerque; Aug. 18, 9 a.m.-noon (839-7952), Immaculate Conception School
Auditorium, 811 Sixth St., Las Vegas, N.M. (425-7791); Aug. 29, 7-10 p.m.,
Santa Maria de La Paz Church, 11 College Ave., Santa Fe (473-4200).