U.S., MEXICAN GOVERNORS TO STUDY DRUG TRAFFICKING AS HEALTH ISSUE

U.S. and Mexican border governors agreed Friday to study drug trafficking
as a health issue and not just a crime, a step hailed by the New Mexico
governor who favors legalizing marijuana and ending the war on drugs.

On the last day of the 19th annual Border Governors Conference in the Gulf
of Mexico port of Tampico, officials announced they would form a commission
of scholars from the 10 U.S. and Mexican states along the border to study
the idea of addressing drug smuggling from a public health perspective.
Mexican governors proposed the idea, which was praised by New Mexico Gov.
Gary E. Johnson.

The conference includes California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas in the
United States and Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Sonora
and Tamaulipas in Mexico. California Gov. Gray Davis dropped out at the
last moment to deal with his state's energy crisis.

Johnson, a two-term Republican, has become one of the United States'
leading proponents of the legalization of drugs including marijuana,
cocaine and heroin. A former drug user himself, he believes drug use is a
health problem, not a crime, and is pushing for state legislation to that
effect.

He believes ending the prohibition on drugs would reduce violence,
corruption and many other problems in the border region.

"I couldn't be more excited about what transpired here," Johnson said
Friday of the joint commission. "I happen to believe that this is the
reason why we have a militarized border and this whole concept or belief
that everyone who comes across the border is a drug trafficker -- that's
the perception in the United States."

But while Mexican governors agreed to study the issue, Johnson acknowledged
that they are far from agreeing to push for drugs to be legalized in their
states. Nuevo Leon Gov. Fernando Canales and Baja California Gov. Alejandro
Gonzalez said the world is not ready to legalize drugs.

"I think the consensus was to give more attention to the health problems
caused by drug trafficking," Gonzalez said. "But to be able to consider
legalizing some of these drugs, such as marijuana, one country or one
region can't do it when it is a problem of many countries."

Chihuahua Gov. said he would support legalization of certain drugs to
dilute the power of criminal groups that benefit from the black market.

"This should be studied, analyzed and looked at to see what the people want
and what are the effects from a different perspective that considers not
only their prohibition but also in given time their approval for medicinal
purposes or for rehabilitation or for other reasons," Martinez said. "We
need to study all aspects of drug use, especially marijuana."

In other matters, governors from both countries sought to spur growth of
the huge cross-border economy and to solve such problems as immigration,
water rights, energy needs and pollution.

The May 23 deaths of 14 immigrants abandoned in the Arizona desert left
governments on both sides grappling with how to make such illegal border
crossings safer without promoting them, but no concrete solutions were
reached in this area.