DRUG TALKS POSSIBLE

SANTA FE -- City Councilor Frank Montano said Wednesday that the governor
has a point in his recent drug discussions.

Not the suggestion that heroin be legalized, but rather his earlier call
for talks about the wisdom of spending lots and lots of federal and state
money to punish drug users.

"If we're going to do something, we should do something positive," Montano
said of the possibility of a public discussion with law enforcement, social
workers, former addicts and the community on the issue. "We want to bring
all these different groups together to see how we might address the drug
problem."

Montaño's proposal, which will be heard Monday by the city Public Safety
Committee, comes weeks after fellow Councilors Peso Chavez and Patti Bushee
sponsored competing resolutions involving Gov. Gary Johnson's recent talk
about drug legalization and the nation's drug war. The council killed both
matters.

"We shouldn't just say a bunch of words, which is not going to sway the
governor one way or another," Montano said.

All city councilors except Cris Moore have signed on as sponsors. Moore
said Wednesday he would have signed on had he been able to attend the Nov.
10 council session and added he liked Montaño's idea: "Debate is good."

The proposed resolution calls for a public meeting at Sweeney Center 60
days after adoption to "ascertain information about legalization and record
for a report to this governing body and public consumption the expressed
ideas regarding this issue."

Montano, who said he doesn't favor Johnson's recent call for legalization,
noted the discussion also should involve alcohol and tobacco use.

"I doubt legalization is the way to go," Montaño said. "But maybe there are
some ways of treatment that can be made available to users, and maybe the
answer is to shift money from jailing somebody and use it for treatment."

Bushee, noting her defeated proposal only called for Johnson to visit Santa
Fe County to witness the effects of drugs, said she still harbored feelings
of concern about the governor's recent comments.

"I have concerns with this governor because I've only seen him spend money
on prisons, not on treatment," Bushee said. "I see his words, but I haven't
seen any action. I just want more follow-though."

Montano said treatment could cut the number of drug dependents in the
region, which, in turn, could decrease crime and other social damages drug
abuse brings to families and communities.

"Not everyone will be reformed. But if a majority are reformed, well then
that's what we want," Montano said. "If there's less demand, then we start
winning the war."

In other items to be discussed, the committee is slated to take up
Councilor Carol Robertson Lopez's so-called "boom box law" and more
discussion on the newspaper vendor situation.

Committee members have suggested the curbside newspaper hawkers for the
Albuquerque Journal North and the Santa Fe New Mexican and their proximity
to moving traffic could present a liability issue for the city. Authorities
have said they know of no injuries resulting from the hawkers.

The boom box matter, given back to the committee at the Nov. 10 City
Council meeting, would impose stiff limits on how loud motorists could play
their stereos. Under the proposal, fines of up to $200 could be imposed on
motorists for first-time infractions. Under the proposal, sound systems
could not be heard from 25 or more feet away.

Opponents of the measure, which include some area low-rider owners and
other customized car club members, have called the measure another City
Hall assault against Santa Fe's youth.