GOVERNOR FACES BATTLE AT HOME

Gov. Gary Johnson recently took his drug-law reform message to Washington,
D.C., but judging by recent statements to the media, at least some of New
Mexico's representatives in Washington are still gung ho on the drug war.

U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., in a written statement seemed ecstatic that as
of Tuesday federal penalties for the drug, ecstasy, were significantly
increased - even though local law-enforcement officials say the drug has
not caught on in New Mexico.

Meanwhile Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., sent out a news release this week
urging New Mexico to "stay in course" in fighting drugs in the northern
part of the state. Domenici said he is asking for additional funds for
law-enforcement efforts as well as other programs in the fight against drugs.

Johnson last month continued his role as a leading national critic of the
drug war. Among the places he spoke about the issue were the National
Organization for the Reform of Drug Laws convention in Washington, D.C.,
and Harvard University Medical School in Boston.

He also made the rounds on the national TV news shows including NBC's Meet
the Press.

A recent article in Salon online magazine quoted an "incredulous" and
"exasperated" Johnson, after an appearance on a CSPAN call-in show, as
saying, "You saw in recent weeks [Congress] talking about ecstasy and
making penalties tougher? You know, c'mon! C'mon!"

Someone who obviously doesn't share the governor's disdain for Congress'
action is Udall, who said in his Tuesday statement, "The new mandatory
sentencing guidelines are reflective of this dangerous drug. Per capita,
New Mexico is the worst state in the nation for drug-overdose deaths."

However, according to area police, it's not ecstasy - the popular name for
MDMA - that is causing overdose fatalities.

"I can only remember two ecstasy busts," said a state-police narcotics
agent who asked not to be named. "And those were for small amounts. It's
mainly heroin that's the problem here. Heroin, cocaine and crack."

Said the agent, "We've tried to set up a couple of buys (for ecstasy), but
nobody seems to be selling it."

Ralph Lopez, coordinator of the Region 3 Narcotics Task Force for the past
10 years, said he also can remember only a couple of ecstasy cases handled
by his agency, which is made up of several Northern New Mexico police
departments.

"It's not really a major problem," Lopez said. But then he added, "Not yet.
Give it time. Sometimes it takes awhile for things like that to catch on here."

The new federal guidelines for ecstasy possession is five years for 800
pills - compared with 15 months previously - and 10 years for 8,000 pills -
compared with the previous 31/2-year sentence.

The federal penalties are far stricter than New Mexico law. Selling ecstasy
under state law is considered distribution of a controlled substance, which
normally carries a maximum three-year sentence.

Udall said the new sentences are aimed at ecstasy pushers - "not young
people who make a bad choice."

Ecstasy is popular with teen-agers and young adults who frequent "raves" -
all-night dances with techno music.

In his news release, Domenici pledged to fight for money to enable federal
agencies to continue to work with state and local organizations to fight
heroin and other problem drugs in Northern New Mexico.

Domenici, who heads the Senate Budget Committee, said he was concerned the
proposed federal Drug Enforcement Agency budget does not include enough
money to target methamphetamine production and trafficking.

He also has requested $2 million for a law-enforcement program called
SEARCH, which provides federal technical assistance and training to state
and local police agencies.