DRUG POLICY CONFERENCE ATTRACTS GOVERNOR, 700 DIVERSE REGISTRANTS

To say the least, it will be an eclectic crowd: New Mexico's governor,
the mayor of a large Western city, religious leaders, drug experts,
former prison inmates and, well, ravers.

A national conference in Albuquerque to discuss drug policy promises
to be an interesting mix of opinions on a topic that continues to
create heat.

"Drug Policies for the New Millennium," the 14th annual international
conference presented by the New York City-based Lindesmith Center-Drug
Policy Foundation, opens today at the Albuquerque Convention Center
and the Hyatt Regency Albuquerque.

"It is an opportunity for experts in the field to share information
and strategies for the future," said Shayna Samuels, a media adviser
for the Lindesmith Center.

Among the scheduled headliners is New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, whose
advocacy of drug policy reform helped spur organizers to hold the
conference in Albuquerque, Samuels said.

Johnson is scheduled to speak at the conference Thursday, Samuels
said.

But the governor is just one of several who are scheduled to give
speeches at the conference, which concludes Saturday.

Also on the speakers list are U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, a California
Democrat and former head of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Waters, who represents parts of inner city Los Angeles, will speak on
"Race and the Drug War," emphasizing the effects of drug usage on
women and children.

Waters and Johnson have spoken on the subject before they took
center-stage together in Los Angeles last year at a "shadow
convention" during the Democratic National Convention. The shadow
convention was also organized by the Lindesmith Center.

Other speakers include Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, who
recently cut off funding for the Drug Abuse Resistance Education
(DARE) Program. Anderson has called DARE, a police-sponsored youth
education program, "an absolute fraud on the people of this country."

Topics to be discussed at the convention include drug treatment vs.
incarceration for nonviolent offenders; the drug Ecstasy and its
effects on popular "rave" parties; the use of medical marijuana;
needle exchange programs; and the emerging student movements against
the drug war.

More than 700 people have registered to attend the convention, twice
the number who usually attend, said Katherine Huffman, director of the
Lindesmith Center's New Mexico office.

"There has been interest in drug policy reform all over New Mexico,
thanks largely to Gov. Johnson. We thought it might be a good idea to
have it here so more New Mexicans could attend," Huffman said.

Previous conferences were in Washington, D.C.

The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation is a national nonprofit
organization that aims to build a national drug policy reform movement.

An alternative approach to drug policy, emphasizing harm reduction and
treatment, that focuses on minimizing the adverse effects of both drug
use and drug prohibition are the guiding principles of the center.

DRUG CONFERENCE

What: 14th Annual Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Conference

Where: Albuquerque Convention Center and the Hyatt Regency Albuquerque.

When: Today through Saturday.

For more information: Call (800) 659-8331 or visit
www.drugpolicy.org/conference