BLAZING JOINTS, HIGH RHETORIC ALIENATE LAWMAKERS

Some state lawmakers backing bills from Gov. Gary Johnson's
drug-reform package warn that pro-pot activists showing up at
committee hearings could make the measures go up in smoke.

Last week, at the end of a Senate Public Affairs Committee hearing on
a bill to legalize the use of marijuana to treat some medical
patients, Sen. Steve Komadina, R-Corrales, scolded activists who
showed up to complain about marijuana laws in general.

"The more the marijuana advocates come to testify, the more likely
I'll be tempted to vote against the bill," said Komadina, who had
voted for a do-pass recommendation for Senate Bill 319, which won a
unanimous vote.

Earlier in the day, legalization activists attended a meeting of the
House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee. That committee voted
to recommend a measure to legalize hemp - a nonpsychoactive cousin of
the marijuana plant - as a crop for industrial purposes.

When nobody rose to oppose House Bill 582, activists broke into
applause, and one man began chanting "Grow hemp, grow hemp."

Although the industrial-hemp bill is not part of the governor's
package, such displays are making some legislators cringe.

"They're a hindrance," said Sen. Roman Maes, D-Santa Fe. Referring to
a rally during the first week of this legislative session, he said,
"They were dancing in front of the Legislature, openly smoking
marijuana. That didn't help matters at all.

"When they get up to testify, it's alarming to some legislators who
say this is a Trojan horse for legalizing marijuana."

Some working on the drug-reform package say they aren't concerned
about the activists.

"The governor's view is the big-tent approach," said Johnson's
legislative liaison, Dave Miller. "These are our citizens, it's the
people's building, and they are all welcome here to give their
opinions and their advice."

Sen. Cisco McSorley, D-Albuquerque, who is sponsoring several
drug-related bills, including one to decriminalize small amounts of
marijuana, said, "I don't fault the people who are most passionate
about the issue for showing up."

McSorley said the drug bills will pass or fail depending on whether
fellow legislators perceive that "Middle America" no longer thinks
the drug issue should be dealt with as a criminal matter.

As for the activists themselves, one man who spoke at the
medical-marijuana hearing - Albuquerque lawyer John McCall - said he
thinks there might be tension because nearly all states that have
enacted medical-marijuana laws did so by citizen initiatives, not the
legislative process.

"Activists have worked longer on these issues than legislators have,"
McCall said. "In the legislative process you have to deal with
political fears. I think it's a clash of populist politics with the
representative system."

McCall said the process is more difficult for New Mexico legislators
because "the spotlight has been turned on bright" due to national
attention drawn by Johnson's position that the "War on Drugs" has
been a failure.

Another activist who spoke at the meeting was Bruce Bush, who heads
the Delta-9 Coalition, a pro-legalization group.

Bush said he realizes that he might have alienated some legislators.

"We will shut up if that helps sick people have access to medical
marijuana," he said.

Maes hopes that is true.

"I'm trying to deal with a very serious problem," he said. "Medical
marijuana is for very sick people. But a lot of the activists see it
as an opportunity to discuss legalizing marijuana. These are two
totally different issues, and those that are there to support
legalization are hurting the bill."

Komadina agreed. A physician by profession, the freshman senator said
marijuana is indeed an effective treatment for some people who suffer
some types of medical conditions.

He said he has sought out and spoken with many patients who have been
successfully treated with marijuana and has met several times with
state Health Secretary Alex Valdez, who would set up a
medical-marijuana program if the bill passes. As vice president of
the state Medical Society, Komadina helped win an endorsement for the
bill from that group.

But, he said, he does not want to "send a wrong message" about
marijuana use. When activists spoke out at last week's committee
meeting, Komadina said, "They suddenly destroyed the credibility I
had created for this bill.

"I'm afraid if they show up (for more hearings), other senators will
think I've been lying," he said.

Bush, a 20-year electronics instructor at Albuquerque's Technical
Vocational Institute, said he had not intended to speak at the
medical-marijuana hearing.

But he changed his mind after District Attorney Matt Sandoval of Las
Vegas, N.M., who is opposed to the bill, spoke and said marijuana is
a "gateway" to harder drugs.

Komadina said, "I've found that people on both sides make
inflammatory comments and use scare techniques."