GOV. EXPLAINS DRUG STAND TO STUDENTS

Gov. Gary Johnson on Wednesday asked a group of about 75 middle
school students from Santa Fe and Los Alamos how many of them could go
out and get marijuana.

About a third of the students raised their hands.

Johnson then asked the students how many of them could obtain legal
prescription drugs without a prescription. Not a single hand went up.
"That's my point," said Johnson, who has received national attention
for advocating the legalization of drugs such as heroin and marijuana.

"When I talk about legalizing (drugs), I'm talking about controlling,
taxing and regulating products that currently aren't," Johnson said.
"I think marijuana, today, is, for you, perhaps more accessible than
alcohol."

Johnson made his remarks at La Cienega's Desert Academy, where he took
questions during a mock news conference from a group of academy
students and some students from Los Alamos Middle School. Johnson was
invited to the academy by U.S. history teacher Ann Sienicki. "I wanted
the students to see that they have access to government," Sienicki
said after the news conference.

The students quizzed Johnson on a wide range of topics, including drug
legalization, school vouchers, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Indian
gambling and what he plans to do after he leaves office.

Some of the students were skeptical of Johnson's assertion that
legalizing drugs would help curb drug abuse.

"If legalizing drugs would solve problems, why does New Mexico have
such a high rate of alcohol-related accidents?" asked Robbie Torney, a
seventh-grader at Los Alamos Middle School.

Johnson agreed alcohol "has wreaked incredible devastation on this
country, yet alcohol is legal."

Johnson told the students he hopes they never do drugs "but the fact
is some of you are going to."

"The fact is that in this room right here, a lot of you are going to
do illegal drugs," Johnson said. "So for those of you that are going
to do drugs, I have a couple of things to say to you. Number one is to
be safe."

"Whether you're doing drugs or alcohol, be safe when you do these
things," Johnson said. "By that, certainly, don't drive cars" after
drinking or doing drugs.

"Don't put yourselves in those situations," Johnson said. "You know if
you get caught doing drugs, you might not go to college because you
can't get a (student) loan. You may be prohibited from doing a lot of
things in your life because you get caught for doing drugs."

But Johnson said he does not believe people should be jailed for doing
drugs as long as they don't commit some other crime.

"If you do drugs and drive, if you do drugs and do crime, if you do
drugs and do anything that's currently against the law, then I'm going
to hang you," Johnson said. "I'm going to hang you up by the thumbs. I
want to hang anybody up by the thumbs that does harm to anyone else or
to anyone else's property."

Desert Academy ninth-grader Megan Woodard said after the news
conference that she thought Johnson was evasive when pressed about how
legalizing drugs would solve problems associated with drug abuse.

Johnson maintained that money spent on law enforcement could be
redirected into drug treatment and education programs. But he conceded
that marijuana use might increase "a little bit" if the drug were legal.

Asked if he had any interest in being president or a U.S. senator,
Johnson said being governor was his "last political office."

"I'm one of those people that believes the longer you're involved in
politics, the less you accomplish," he said.