GOV. CHALLENGES DRUG AGENTS' METHODS

Staff Asked To Look At Parolee Rules

Gov. Gary Johnson is taking a look at two new areas in his drug-reform
efforts in New Mexico: undercover drug agents and parolees returning to prison.

Johnson said Friday that he doesn't think parolees should be sent back to
prison if they test positive for marijuana. As a condition of parole, many
ex-convicts are required to stay off drugs and submit regular urine tests
to ensure that they are clean.

And Johnson said it seems as if many drug convictions occur in the first
place because undercover narcotics agents are "hounding" drug users to sell
them drugs.

Johnson raised both issues in a conversation with reporters during a break
in a national conference in Albuquerque sponsored by The Lindesmith
Center-Drug Policy Foundation, a group that advocates drug-law reform. He
attended the first two days of the conference and was slated to be the
keynote speaker for the conference's end today.

On both issues Johnson raised with reporters Friday, he said he is having
staffers gather information and has no specific proposals. He mentioned
both issues came to his attention when members of the public came to visit
him during his regular "Open Door After Four" program, when he lets anyone
come in and see him for five minutes on certain days.

Johnson said he has the impression that drug users are harassed by
narcotics agents who ask the users to provide the agents with drugs. To get
the agents off their backs, the users agree to get them the drugs they
want, he said. "Then, lo and behold, they're in jail," he said. "I want to
find out how many undercover drug agents we have on duty in New Mexico."

Officer Beth Baland, spokeswoman for the Albuquerque Police Department,
said APD narcotics agents don't "hound" people. "We certainly don't create
any drug transaction on our own," she said. "As far as entrapment goes, we
never do that."

Many people don't understand drug law enforcement and the need for agents
to go undercover, dressing and talking like people in the drug culture, she
said. "Our units that work in the field are very specialized in what they
do; they have a good deal of experience," she said.

Johnson said he doesn't know if he would be interested in reining in state
law enforcement officers' techniques or whether he actually would try to
reduce the number of undercover drug agents. "I won't shy away from having
an impact on the problem," he said.

Meanwhile, he's waiting for information to show him how many people end up
back in prison because they are caught using drugs while on parole. "Do we
really want to lock them back up?" he said. "Many can't stay clean out of
prison. They have a habit. Is it a medical, health or criminal problem?"

Treating the addiction would be more cost-effective and more effective
overall than sending a person back to prison, he said.

Johnson wouldn't commit to asking for any more money for addiction
treatment in the next legislative session. He said he did get more money
for treatment in this year's budget.

In public comments Thursday at the conference, Johnson talked about how
alcohol prohibition almost a century ago was crippled when New York refused
to enforce laws against use or sale of alcohol. "Perhaps New Mexico can
fulfill that role" in the prohibition against drugs, he said.

In response to a reporter's question afterward, Johnson said he did not
mean to suggest that New Mexico should stop enforcing current drug laws.
Instead, Johnson said he is focusing on legislation to change some of those
laws.