WHITE QUITS, CITES DRUG ISSUE

Public Safety Secretary Darren White resigned Tuesday, citing disagreement
with Gov. Gary Johnson's drug-policy positions.

"Earlier this summer, I welcomed your call for a national discussion on our
country's drug policy," White said in a resignation letter to the
Republican governor, effective immediately. "However, since that time, you
have taken policy positions that I do not share." Johnson spokeswoman Diane
Kinderwater said the governor did not request White's resignation and has
told Cabinet members they are free to disagree with him.

White's resignation is the first Cabinet-level fallout since Johnson
climbed into the national spotlight with his drug policy crusade earlier
this year. Johnson has called the nation's war on drugs "a miserable failure."

White, who oversees the New Mexico State Police, said in a telephone
interview Tuesday night that Johnson's support of drug legalization has
been "difficult" for him.

"I'd just simply say it's been a very difficult issue," White said. "And
it's compounded by the fact that I obviously had to take an opposite side
from him."

White, 36, has been New Mexico's public safety secretary since Johnson took
office five years ago. As public safety secretary, he oversaw the State
Police and state emergency operations.

White, who was paid $83,500 as Cabinet secretary, said he does not have
another job and is unsure what his next career move will be. He was an
Albuquerque police sergeant before being hired as public safety secretary
at the start of Johnson's first four-year term.

"Law enforcement is my first love, and it's what I've done most of my life,
but it's too early to tell," White said.

In an October interview with the Journal, White said Johnson's drug stance
was a "major morale killer" for law enforcement officers and undermined
their credibility. Many law enforcement officers around the state have
protested the governor's call for drug legalization, citing conflict with
their professional responsibilities to enforce laws and combat drug crimes.

"These guys feel he doesn't appreciate what we are doing," White told the
Journal in October.

He also said the past few months have "been one of the most difficult times
in my five years as secretary of the Department of Public Safety."

"Legalization and decriminalization is not the answer or the solution to
our drug problem," White said in the October interview.

White also said in his resignation letter Tuesday that he has enjoyed his
tenure as public safety chief.

"It has been a wonderful journey, and I will be forever grateful to you for
this opportunity," White wrote in his letter to the governor.

"I have been torn between my personal loyalty to you and my profound
respect for you as a great governor and my deeply held beliefs," the letter
continued. "With great sadness, I have concluded that I must submit my
resignation effective immediately.

"He (Johnson) certainly did not request a resignation," Kinderwater said in
telephone interview Tuesday night. "He has made it perfectly clear to all
his Cabinet members that they are able to disagree with him and that they
can have their own opinion.

"There is no conflict with the governor and Secretary White," Kinderwater
said. "But the secretary himself may have a conflict."