TASK FORCE URGES REDUCED DRUG SENTENCES

Legalizing small amounts of marijuana, reducing drug-possession charges to
a misdemeanor for first and second-time offenders and a greater emphasis on
treatment for drug addicts were among the recommendations of a state task
force on drug policy unveiled Thursday.

"This is only the beginning," said Woody Smith, a retired state district
judge from Albuquerque who chairs the task force, which was created in June.

Speaking at a press conference in Albuquerque Thursday, Smith said that
after he became a judge, "I could tell something was wrong every day I went
to court. The policy was failing. More and more people were using drugs,
and more and more people were going to prison. We were taxing and spending,
and nothing was working."

Another member of the advisory group, Albuquerque Mayor Jim Baca, said his
city spends about a third of its budget on fighting the war on drugs,
"which takes away from other basic services."

Said Baca, "The war on drugs is a failure. Anybody who says it's not a
failure is not dealing with reality."

Group member Angie Vachio, director of Peanut Butter & Jelly, a nonprofit
organization that serves high-risk families in New Mexico, said a hidden
cost of drug prohibition is children who end up in foster care when their
parents are jailed. These children also frequently end up in trouble with
the law, she said.

However, opponents of drug decriminalization are already lining up to make
sure some of the recommendations never come to pass. State Rep. Ron Godbey
- - perhaps the state legislature's staunchest foe of liberalizing drug laws
- - said any such measures don't stand, "a snowball's chance in Hades."

Although he predicted defeat for decriminalization, Godbey, R-Albuquerque,
also said he believes national prolegalization groups "are going to spend a
lot of money in New Mexico during this next legislative session. You're
going to see a lot of television commercials."

The advisory group recommended that possessing up to an ounce of marijuana
be legal. There would be civil, but no criminal, penalties for smoking
marijuana in public places.

Under the recommendations, those arrested for drug possession for the first
or second time would receive automatic probation and drug treatment. Such
offenders would not have a felony on their records.

The group recommended that drug-treatment programs be available for anyone
seeking them. That would mean such programs would have to be seriously
expanded in New Mexico, said state Health Secretary Alex Valdez.

Valdez said the state Medicaid program should expand treatment services to
comprehensive coverage for substance abuse of all kinds. Medicaid only
offers such treatment in some cases involving children and pregnant women.

The Governor's Drug Policy Advisory Group also recommended:

. Allowing the medical use of marijuana for those suffering serious
illnesses - such as cancer and AIDS - for which the drug has been proven to
alleviate pain.

. Expanding the state's needle-exchange program and liberalizing laws
governing the sale and possession of hypodermic needles.

. Allowing those on methadone-treatment programs to take the heroin
substitute in doctors' offices or health clinics.

. Expanding the use of Narcan to treat drug overdoses.

. Spending more money on "science-based, safety-focused" drug-education and
prevention programs in primary and secondary schools - and eliminating
programs not meeting those standards.

Gov. Gary Johnson - who has become a leading national voice for
decriminalizing drugs - is expected today to discuss the panel's findings
and perhaps propose specific legislation stemming from the recommendations.

Johnson's Public Safety Secretary Nick Bakas, a member of the panel, said
drug decriminalization has received mixed reaction from police officers he
has talked to.

Bakas, a 26-year veteran of the Albuquerque Police Department, said
officers "realize they are not going to interdict and arrest our way out of
the problem. We can't keep drugs out of a maximum-security prison. How are
we going to keep them out of a free society?"

But some members of the law-enforcement community said Thursday they cannot
go along with the panel's recommendation to legalize small amounts of
marijuana or to make drug possession a misdemeanor.

Matt Sandoval, district attorney in Las Vegas and president of the state
District Attorneys Association, said, "I don't believe that the people of
the state of New Mexico are willing to give up and allow the problem to
expand greatly."

Sandoval said reducing drug penalties "is just reinforcing their behavior."
He said marijuana is a "gateway" to harder drugs.

Santa Fe Deputy Police Chief Beverly Lennen issued a statement that said
her department supports the recommendations to expand treatment programs
and "harm-reduction" plans, such as the needle-exchange and methadone programs.

But, she said, the department does not support decriminalization. "Most
violent crimes and/or property crimes are linked to substance abuse and
resulting behaviors. This includes homicide, rape, robbery, domestic
violence and larceny."

Smith said he is not surprised at opposition from police. "There have been
decades of indoctrination that arrest and interdiction is the right way,"
he said. "In a war, the first casualty is the truth."