U.S. GOVERNOR'S HIGHER CALLING AT ODDS WITH WASHINGTON
Republican Maverick From New Mexico Questions Need For $50-Billion War On Drugs

The 48-year-old politician stared out from the podium at the toughest crowd
a Republican could possibly face: body-pierced, tattooed, red-eyed slackers.

Within minutes, he'd won himself a standing ovation with just five words
that have made him famous: "We need to legalize marijuana."

It was a spotlight moment for Gary Johnson, governor of New Mexico,
probably the highest-ranking U.S. politician to address a gathering of the
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

He is also certainly the most prominent right-wing politician to champion
legalized pot and heroin, a cause that has put him starkly at odds with his
own party and the cabinet of President George W. Bush, a man he admires and
supports.

In recent days, people in Washington have begun to take notice of this
renegade Republican, who has spent three years deploring the $50-billion
(U.S.) Washington spends annually on antidrug efforts.

Critics have long referred to the government's war on drugs as a "new
Vietnam," but seldom has that phrase resonated as powerfully as it did last
week after a small plane carrying missionaries was shot down over Peru by
U.S.-supported members of the Peruvian Air Force, killing a woman and her
infant daughter.

"I sense everybody wants to back off this whole getting-tougher concept,"
Mr. Johnson said recently. "I sense everybody wants a better handle on
substance abuse. Let's deal with substance abuse, but let's not put
somebody in jail for the use of marijuana."

The United States now arrests 1.6 million people a year on drug-related
charges -- more than 600,000 of them for possession of small amounts of
marijuana. If there has been any reduction in drug abuse resulting from the
war on drugs begun 30 years ago by Richard Nixon, it may be only because so
many people have wound up in prison. The United States now leads the
Western world in incarceration rates, largely as a result of its strict
drug laws.

Mr. Johnson is part of a small but vocal band of politicians, including
liberal Democrats and some libertarian-minded Republicans, who believe drug
addiction should be treated not as a battlefront but as a cancer -- a
medical, not a criminal, matter.

Last year, a referendum passed in California to send people arrested on
drug crimes to treatment centres instead of prison.

More recently, Mr. Johnson tried to pass a package of measures in the New
Mexico legislature that would replace funding for criminal interdiction
with "harm-reduction" programs of treatment and education.

Most of the measures made little headway, but he has vowed to try again
when the legislature reconvenes.

Like many politicians these days, Mr. Johnson admits to having used illicit
drugs in his youth. Unlike others, he says he enjoyed it.

"It was great. It was an unbelievable high," he says of the large amounts
of pot and small amounts of cocaine he consumed while attending the
University of New Mexico.

He says he hasn't touched drugs since the 1970s or alcohol since the 1980s,
and is now a competitive triathlete and owns a construction firm with 1,000
employees.

Mr. Johnson recommends against using drugs, based on his experiences. "It
was nice, but if you do it all the time, you end up in a stupor," he told a
reporter. "It's a waste of time."

His views mark a schism between Republicans who emphasize their morality
and religion, and who believe government should play an activist role in
social matters, and the party's libertarian branch, which has not gained
much of a foothold in the Bush administration.

In New Mexico, Mr. Johnson is known for aggressive use of his veto power.
In his first term, he struck down more than 700 bills, including some that
would have provided drug treatment. Only during his second term, which
began in 1998, did he launch his crusade against drug laws. (His state has
a two-term limit on governors, so Mr. Johnson won't fight another
gubernatorial election on his views.)

His maverick opinions have won him considerable media attention and a
public following.

But former president Bill Clinton's last drug czar, Barry McCaffrey, a
retired four-star army general, repeatedly attacked the New Mexico
governor, mocking him as "Puff Daddy Johnson."

Mr. Bush is expected to name John Walters, who is believed to be even more
militaristic in his approach to drug control, as the country's next drug
czar. Mr. Walters supports a more prominent role for religion in
government, and quit a previous drug-policy post in protest against Clinton
administration policies, including more money for treatment.

In Senate judiciary committee hearings in 1996, Mr. Walters spoke out
against "this ineffectual policy -- the latest manifestation of the
liberals' commitment to a 'therapeutic state' in which government serves as
the agent of personal rehabilitation."

As for the American public in general, its view is unclear. A recent
national study by the Washington-based Pew Research Center found that
Americans favour a tough drug policy, although they are deeply skeptical of
its chances of succeeding.

The survey also found, however, that about half of Americans think drugs
should be treated as a disease, while a third felt they should be treated
as a crime. Those opinions were divided sharply along party lines:
Republicans were more likely to see drug abuse as a criminal offence, while
Democrats tended to believe it should be considered a disease.

"The public is frustrated with the war on drugs and doesn't think it's
succeeding," said Andrew Kohut of the Pew Center.

"But it is still sticking with the tactics of the drug war, giving the
highest priorities to interdiction and incarceration."