NO SCHOOL DRUG TALK FOR GOVERNOR JOHNSON

The Santa Fe school district has just said no to Gov. Gary Johnson's
message about drug legalization. Johnson is meeting Monday with students at
DeVargas Middle School, and some parents have complained that 12- and
13-year-old students are too young to hear his message that heroin and
marijuana should be legalized.

DeVargas officials said Thursday that students' questions to Johnson will
revolve around his job, schools and space aliens rather than drugs.

The governor's spokeswoman, Diane Kinderwater, confirmed that and said he
would stick to questions asked by the students -- and that the students
aren't being allowed to ask about drugs. Johnson, who contends the nation's
war on drugs is a failure, pledged to his fellow Republicans that he'd tone
down his drug message. But during a talk with Santa Fe High School students
on Monday, he spent an hour talking about his drug views.

DeVargas principal Debra Carden said the kids will ask Johnson what it's
like to be governor, why women make less money than men, why Johnson wants
vouchers for private schools and whether he believes in aliens.

She said every minute of his hour at the school will be accounted for and
none will include a discussion of drugs. The 200 students attending the
meeting were asked to develop questions, and only one originally concerned
drugs, Carden said.

She said that after a complaint, she told students they wouldn't be allowed
to ask that.

She said they didn't mind.

"They're in junior high," she said.

"They're more worried about their make-up."