DEBATE GETS A BIT HEATED

A forum billed as a "balanced discussion of the pros and cons" of marijuana
usage became a hot seat for representatives Manny Herrera and Dianne
Hamilton on Thursday night -- one which Herrera chose to suddenly exit.

Following more than an hour of comments presented by the forum panelists,
an audience member stood and yelled at Herrera and Hamilton in response to
their comments that they are staunchly opposed to drug legalization.
Herrera stood, gathered his things, and exited the stage.

"I didn't realize I was in front of a lynching party," Herrera said before
leaving the building.

The forum was held at Western New Mexico University's Light Hall before a
crowd of about 140 people, most of whom seemed to be pro-legalization of
drugs.

The forum panel consisted of Herrera, D-Bayard; Hamilton, R-Silver City;
Millie Seewald of the Committee for an Open Dialogue on Marijuana; Dr.
Larry French, chair of the Social Sciences Department at WNMU; Helen
Francis; Jason Dunlap, WNMU senior; Alan Wagman, a criminal defense lawyer
in Silver City; Steve Bunch of the New Mexico Drug Policy Foundation; Bill
Stites, founder of Gilanet; Susan Ybarra, assistant district attorney for
the 6th Judicial District; and Charles Harwood, a Silver City criminal
defense lawyer.

Grant County Sheriff Steve Reese and Silver City Chief of Police H.R.
"Bodie" Chavez were invited to be on the panel but chose not to attend.

A letter declining the panelist invitation said, "in our opinion legalizing
marijuana, heroin or any other type of drug is absolutely unacceptable."

Panelists were each given five minutes to discuss their beliefs regarding
the legalization of drugs, which has been put in the spotlight recently as
a result of Gov. Gary Johnson's statements that he supports debating
legalization of drugs, and his more recent statements that he supports
legalization of some drugs.

Comments at the forum represented a wide range of experience, but eight of
the 11 panel members voiced support for some degree of drug legalization
and regulation. French, a professor of psychology, said the human brain
does not differentiate between legal and illegal drugs, and illegal drugs
are not inherently "bad" for a user. He said the government is ignoring the
fundamental question of why there is an economic demand for illegal drugs:
"Why do people use these drugs?"

"We don't address that," he said, adding that more should be done to
explore the social ills that may create the desire in people to use drugs.

Seewald said her concern with the nation's current drug policy is "because
of all the prisons being built." Most of the prisoners are young people,
she claimed, adding that many are imprisoned for nonviolent drug offenses.
She said statistics show that drug offense convictions result in longer
prison sentences than any other category of crime except murder and
manslaughter.

Herrera was next to speak. He stood and showed his red "Proud to be Drug
Free" ribbon while stating that the Cobre School District is drug free. He
then said, "Ladies and gentlemen, believe me, I don't think this issue of
marijuana and drug legalization deserves one minute on the house floor."

He said Gov. Johnson's stance on drugs is giving children the wrong message.

"This is not a Democrat or Republican issue -- it's a governor issue," he
said.

"I think this is ridiculous," he added, saying that a person caught with
less than 1 ounce of marijuana is punished with a $50 fine -- comparable to
"a traffic ticket." He said he supports harsher penalties for people caught
with less than 1 ounce of marijuana.

"This is what my constituents want," he said.

Herrera's comment that the Cobre School District is drug-free drew some
response from other panelists. Bunch said, "With all due respect to Rep.
Herrera, I would bet that there is not one drug-free high school in this
state." He added he would say the same about most of the state's middle
schools.

Bunch said his Foundation "provides accurate information about the drug
war" and "does not advocate any particular issue" regarding drugs.

But, he said, "drug prohibition seems to be an absolute disaster for our
communities."

If the goal is to keep children away from drugs, Bunch said, the drug war
is "a 95 percent failure."

"What we seem to have is more drugs and more kids on drugs at earlier
ages," he said. "We seem to be making the problem worse."

He said he witnessed drug dealers pushing their wares in school parking lots.

"You don't see the tobacco dealer, you don't see the alcohol dealer, but
you definitely see the drug dealer" at schools, he said -- an argument for
regulation of drugs in the same way alcohol and tobacco are regulated.

Harwood said, "Federal court is where the drug war has escalated almost
beyond imagination in the last few years," citing a case of a woman getting
a 14-month sentence for vehicular manslaughter while driving drunk while
marijuana dealers sentenced the same day got sentences of five to 10 years.

"I have children -- I don't want them to use drugs," Harwood said. "I hope
they'll stay away from the two worst drugs which I think are alcohol and
tobacco."

He said the drug war is founded on hysteria, propaganda and ignorance,
which he said is perpetuated by the government which refuses to do
long-term studies on the use of currently illegal drugs.

"I suggest because the government doesn't want us to know what the truth
is," he said.

Harwood also said drug dealers are getting more violent because, with the
harsher penalties against them, only the most hardened criminals are daring
to deal drugs.

"We've been doing this for 30 years and we're not getting anywhere. We need
to look at this and do something radically different," he said.

Hamilton said constituents could contact her about this issue at 538-9336
or at andrew@zianet.com. She has received many calls and letters from
constituents urging her to oppose Gov. Johnson on drug legalization. She
said she was surprised to see so many people pro-legalization.

Sponsors of the forum include the Southwest Chapter of the American Civil
Liberties Union, The Committee for an Open Dialogue on Marijuana; WNMU
student government; WNMU student newspaper The Mustang; and the Mexican
Chicano Association at WNMU.