A JOINT PROPOSITION

The issue of drug legalization has been brought to the forefront in New
Mexico

THE arguments for decriminalizing drugs go something like this:

The millions of dollars the United States spends on fighting them could be
better spent educating children and young adults about the dangers of
substance abuse.

Drug addicts do not belong in jail; they should be hospitalized and treated
for their illness.

Alcohol and tobacco pose far greater threats to society.

The government's approach to eliminating drug abuse isn't working and it's
time to try something else.

Drug laws are civil rights violations. In the words of one organization
that's working to decriminalize drugs: "We do not advocate drug use, but in
America adults have the freedom to make their own choices, even stupid ones,
as long as they do not harm others." But even if all of the above were true,
Clovis, N.M., district attorney Randall Harris is not convinced that
decriminalizing drugs would help solve the problems they create. That's
because, he says, drug users are unable to limit harm to themselves.

"It doesn't just affect you," he said. "It affects all of us."

New Hexico Republican governor Gary Johnson gave the issue credibility last
year when he began publicly advocating the legalization of marijuana. He
also supports decriminalization of other drugs.

The Associated Press reported Johnson has repeatedly called the nation's war
on drugs a failure. He says drug legalization would reduce crime and
drug-related health problems.

But his ideas have not been embraced - not by government officials or the
population at large. The secretary of New Mexico's department of public
safety resigned his post in protest of Johnson's stance.

A newspaper poll showed Johnson's approval rating plummeted from 54 to 35
percent once his views on decriminalizing drugs became known.

State G0P officials have acknowledged they're concerned the governor's push
could complicate the party's efforts to gain seats in the state Legislature
this fall.

And some parents have complained they don't want their children to hear
Johnson's message, especially at school.

Still, thousands are listening. And the idea is beginning to attract
attention, if not overwhelming support.

Americans Against the Drug War, a Dallas-based not-for-profit corporation,
claims it represents mere than 15,000 grass-roots activists throughout the
United States.

Those activists contend:

"The large profits associated with prohibited substances are in large part
responsible for the growth of organized crime and gang activities in the
United States.

"The United States now imprisons more people per capita than any other
nation (as a result of its drug laws).

"Minors have fairly easy access to illicit drugs.

"The drug war is a failure on all fronts unless you happen to make your
livelihood fighting it." Harris is among those fighters.

"I like Gary Johnson a bunch. I certainly share some of his concerns. I am
not waving a banner that says the war on drugs is working and what we're
doing is 100-percent guaranteed because it's not. There are a lot of areas
that he has concerns about that I do too," Harris said.

But, "No. He hasn't been able to convince me that legalizing drugs is the
answer."

That's because Harris said he's seen the negative impact of substance abuse
up close.

"I've gone on welfare checks, on child-abuse cases where the parents were
passed out (from drug use)," he said. "Last year we went to a house where a
little baby - four or five months old - was just skin and bones. There were
kids playing in the house with marijuana bongs and these sorts of things. I
said to myself, 'That's what people need to see.' It's not just a matter of
people smoking marijuana when they want to - it affects families,
relationships, jobs; it affects people's ability to do a lot of things."

Oldham County Sheriff David Medlin agrees.

"I've watched it destroy people's lives," he said.

"What I've seen with drugs, somebody may just do it one time and they're
addicted and there's no easy way out. I'm not saying that happens every
time, but I do know people personally that that has happened to them."

Rolf Ernst is a spokesman for Americans Against the Drug War, which supports
decriminalization.

"Nobody debates, and we don't either, that there are harmful effects
involved for some people in the usage of some drugs," he said. "However, we
also feel that group is somewhat exaggerated. With marijuana we believe
certainly very few people are (negatively) impacted by extreme measures.

"You have to outweigh the negative affects vs. possible gains you could
achieve. I think what we're seeing over time in the drug war is the laws
have led to numerous negative effects such as - erosion of civil rights."

Ernst said AADW advocates changing laws so that possession and use of drugs
would be legal. The organization wants all adult drug use decriminalized
based on the idea that "no individual right should be revoked until it is
shown that 1) the action, in and of itself, causes harm to others; and 2)
prohibiting the act will positively affect the whole of society," according
to its Internet Web site.

Rick Day, a member of Dallas-based National Organization for the Repeal of
Marijuana Laws, doesn't want to go quite that far.

"I'm not for the legalization of lab-based drugs at this point because,
quite frankly, (some lab-based drugs) are dangerous things," he said.

But Day does support the legalization of "earth-based drugs," which he
describes as anything produced naturally. Lab-based drugs are those
radically changed from their original state by chemicals, such as
methamphetamines.

While Day said he recently stepped down from the board of directors of AADW
because it did not distinguish between earth-based drugs and lab-based
drugs, he still agrees with many AADW philosophies.

"I don't think anybody should go to jail for making a personal choice - and
that's everything from prostitution to homosexuality to gambling to wife
swapping to taking certain drugs. Nobody should be put in jail for that -
only when their actions extend (to harm) somebody else," he said.

Sue Rusche, executive director of Atlanta-based National Families in Action,
said she's heard that argument before and isn't swayed.

"What I say to those people is 'Fine. Fry your brains. So long as you're
willing to sign this paper to never ask taxpayers to cover the cost of any
drug-related illness,"' she said.

Like the prosecutor Harris, she doesn't think drug users can limit harm to
themselves.

NFA's published mission is to "help families and communities prevent drug
use among children by promoting policies based on science."

One of the organization's major concerns related to decriminalizing drugs is
that such action would increase drug use.

"I think the country is pretty clear in its feeling about tobacco," Rusche
said. "Smoking is not good for you. But what the public doesn't understand
is what legitimate industries have the freedom to do. The First Amendment
protects free speech - they are free to go after children (through
advertising) and try to get them engaged in smoking. And smoking is actually
going up among kids and among women."

Legalizing marijuana and other drugs would allow producers to openly, and
legally, promote drug use, she said.

Both sides in the argument cite statistics they say help support their
cause. Rusche said about 150 million Americans use alcohol on a regular
basis; about 65 million use tobacco; and about 13 million use illicit drugs.
"By keeping drugs illegal, we are able to hold down the number of people who
use them," she said.

Proponents of decriminalization use proportionate numbers to point out the
relatively small number of drug users vs. the amount of negative publicity
they receive in relation to alcohol and tobacco users.

But the two sides can agree on this much, at least for now: The prospect of
decriminalizing drugs remains a far-fetched idea in the minds of most
Americans.

"Any change will be done slowly," Ernst said.