CONFERENCE MIXES JOHNSON AND WATERS

The war against the war on drugs is making some pretty strange bedfellows
in New Mexico this year.

First there was former Gov. Toney Anaya and former state Sen. Mickey
Burnett, old political enemies who worked together this year in lobbying
the state Legislature on behalf of Gov. Gary Johnson's drug-reform package.
Now there's conservative Republican Johnson and liberal Democratic
Congresswoman Maxine Waters, both of whom are scheduled to speak this week
at a national conference on drug policy in Albuquerque.

The event, scheduled to begin Wednesday, is the New York-based Lindesmith
Center Drug Policy Foundation's 14th annual conference.

More than 700 people have registered for the event at Albuquerque's
Convention Center, Katharine Huffman, director of Lindesmith's New Mexico
operation, said last week.

Waters, who represents a district that includes South Central Los Angeles,
is a former head of the Congressional Black Caucus and a vocal champion of
minorities - and a frequent target of right-wing radio talk-show hosts.

Waters shared the stage with Johnson in Los Angeles last year during an
anti-drug-war rally at the "Shadow Convention," which took place during the
Democratic National Convention. There Waters called for the resignation of
Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey - who eventually did resign at the end of
President Clinton's term.

Waters is scheduled to be a part of a panel on "Race and the Drug War,"
beginning at 10:15 a.m. Friday.

Johnson, who has been interviewed on countless television news programs and
in national magazines about his libertarian views on drug laws, is
scheduled to speak at the opening session of the conference at 9 a.m.
Thursday and at a luncheon at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Another featured speaker scheduled for the conference is Salt Lake City
Mayor Rocky Anderson, a Utah maverick who made national headlines last year
when he cut off funding for Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE), a
police-sponsored anti-drug program. Anderson called the program "an
absolute fraud on the people of this country."

Anderson also spoke at the Shadow Convention, where he was quoted as
saying, "The Republican and Democratic Parties will not address the
absolute insanity of our approach to fighting drug abuse and addiction. It
is up to the American people to insist on a course that is honest,
effective and just."

He is scheduled to speak at a luncheon at 11:45 a.m. Friday.

Among the scheduled panel discussions is one featuring several key players
- - Sen. Roman Maes, D-Santa Fe, Rep. Joe Thompson, R-Albuquerque, state
Health Secretary Alex Valdez and former Gov. Anaya - who fought for
drug-reform bills during the past session of the Legislature.

The legislative effort was only partially successful. Only three of the
eight bills in Johnson's package - the less-controversial ones - passed,
while such hot potatoes as decriminalizing marijuana and reducing sentences
for other drugs never even made it to the floor of either house.

The bills that made it through the Legislature and were signed by Johnson
include one allowing licensed pharmacists to distribute hypodermic syringes
to drug addicts; one that eliminates civil and criminal liability for
individuals who administer antidotes for heroin overdoses, such as Narcan,
under certain conditions; and one allocating $9.8 million for
drug-treatment and prevention programs.

Most previous Lindesmith conferences have been held in Washington, D.C.,
Huffman said. "But there has been such 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.

"New Mexico just seemed like the perfect place this year," she said.

Response to that choice seems to have paid off, Huffman said. The number of
registrants is more than twice the number who usually attend.

Lindesmith, which has offices in the state, has helped promote Johnson's
views on drugs. The group paid for a task force, headed by retired District
Judge Woody Smith of Albuquerque, that recommended sweeping changes to drug
law.

Lindesmith also paid for Anaya and Burnett to lobby the legislature for
Johnson's drug bills.

The foundation is named after Alfred R. Lindesmith, a psychologist who
wrote about drug addiction from the 1930s through the 1960s. It was founded
in 1994 by Ethan Nadelmann, a former Princeton University professor who is
Lindesmith's executive director.

Lindesmith's major benefactor has been billionaire philanthropist George
Soros - though Huffman said the major source of income is memberships.
Huffman said the foundation has 10,000 members.

Those wishing to attend the conference can register between 6:30 and 8:30
p.m. Wednesday at the Hyatt Regency in Albuquerque, or 8 a.m. Thursday at
the Albuquerque Convention Center. Cost is $80.

For more information: www.drugpolicy.org/conference/schedule.html