WHITE'S EXIT BAFFLES GOVERNOR

Former state Public Safety chief Darren White said Wednesday his
relationship with Gov. Gary Johnson started deteriorating after he said the
governor's advocacy of drug legalization was demoralizing police throughout
the state.

White, a Johnson Cabinet member for five years, resigned Tuesday over
differences with Johnson's drug-policy positions. Johnson appointed State
Police Chief Frank Taylor as acting secretary of the Public Safety
Department.

Johnson said through a spokesperson Wednesday that he was perplexed by
White's abrupt resignation. "He doesn't understand the resignation," said
Diane Kinderwater, Johnson's press secretary. "He did not ask him to resign.
He's said you can disagree with me, just understand my position -- know it
and understand it."

Taylor on Wednesday said he, too, disagrees with Johnson's support of
legalizing drugs, including heroin and cocaine. But Taylor said he has
spoken with the governor and was reassured that Johnson did not expect his
Public Safety chief to agree with him on drug legalization.

"I respect the governor's position, but he also understands and respects
ours from law enforcement," Taylor said in an interview. "There has never
been any remarks or statements made by him or any of his staff for us to
curtail any (drug) interdiction efforts."

White said Johnson's increasing advocacy of drug legalization over the last
few months had made it impossible for him to do his job.

Johnson's arguments have gained national attention. At a drug policy forum
in Albuquerque on Tuesday, he argued that marijuana smokers pose less danger
to society than heavy drinkers.

Johnson said most people would avoid a raging drunk while the only damage a
pot smoker would do "is to a bag of potato chips."

White said in an interview Wednesday he finds Johnson's arguments in support
of drug legalization "troubling."

"Especially where he's saying pot is safer than alcohol or tobacco," White
said. "Safer? That's like saying it's safer for a child to play with a
loaded .22 than to play with a loaded .38."

White said tensions between him and the governor over the drug issue began
to come to a head after White said in an Oct. 13 story in the Journal that
Johnson's position was damaging the morale and credibility of law
enforcement officers across New Mexico.

"It's a major moral killer," White said in the story. "These guys feel he
doesn't appreciate what we are doing."

White, a Cabinet secretary for Johnson since the beginning of Johnson's
first term in 1995, was the latest dissenter from the Republican governor's
controversial drug arguments.

Three members of Johnson's Drug Enforcement Advisory Council, including
representatives of the FBI and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration,
resigned in October. They said Johnson's views were inconsistent with the
council's mission.

Johnson and White have acknowledged in interviews having a private telephone
conversation about White's comments in the Journal.

"That conversation was the beginning of when it (Johnson's drug stance) did
start to get in the way," White said Wednesday. "I told him that night, 'I'm
walking a tightrope here, and you took the net away.' That's when the
relationship started to deteriorate ... I could tell he was disappointed in
me."

Johnson said in an interview last week that he was upset with White for
saying he did not understand Johnson's drug stance.

"I've told my Cabinet, 'You can criticize me from sun up till sundown, but
first understand what I'm saying,' '' Johnson said. "Well, of all people,
Darren should have been able to write an essay on where I was coming from
... I was taken aback."

White accompanied Johnson in early October to Washington, D.C., when Johnson
spoke to the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute in support of drug
legalization.

Johnson said in the earlier interview that White's job was not in jeopardy
over the drug issue, nor was the job of anyone else in his Cabinet who
disagreed with him.

Kelly Ward, Johnson's superintendent for Regulation and Licensing, said
Wednesday that the drug issue has been a hot topic of discussion at recent
Cabinet meetings.

"But it's never been 'my way or you're gone,' " said Ward, who was Johnson's
senior policy analyst before being named by the governor to his current post
late this summer.

Meanwhile, White's resignation was greeted by mixed feelings by members of
the Legislative Finance Committee, where he had been scheduled to appear
Wednesday before he resigned.

"I think the department is the winner in this case," said Sen. Ben
Altamirano, D-Silver City, who chairs the committee.

Sen. Sue Wilson, R-Albuquerque, said she wished White had stuck it out
despite his differences with Johnson over the drug issue. "These abrupt
resignations hurt the state in terms of being inflammatory and political,"
Wilson said. "If it had been me, I think I would have stayed even though I
differed with the governor. Most people are differing with the governor, but
it doesn't mean that I want to resign my Senate seat."