DRUG REFORMERS TO JOIN JOHNSON

Several of America's pre-eminent drug policy reform advocates will join
Gov. Gary Johnson in Albuquerque on Tuesday to discuss alternatives to
national drug policy.

The forum, "Just say KNOW: KNOW the Facts, KNOW the Issues, KNOW the
Alternatives" is scheduled for 7 to 10 p.m. at the Albuquerque Crowne Plaza
Pyramid hotel.

The free forum will be hosted by the New Mexico Drug Policy Foundation and
will be open to the public.

"This is an opportunity for the general public to get some accurate
information about current federal drug policy," said Steve Bunch, the
foundation's executive director. "One of the most important features of
this forum is for the public to fully understand what Gov. Johnson has been
talking about."

Johnson is the highest-ranking elected official in the United States to
call for the legalization of some drugs. He has consistently said drug use
is a "bad choice" but that the choice should not carry criminal penalties.

Johnson contends that legalizing, regulating and taxing drugs would
decrease drug use and eliminate many of the societal ills that stem from
the illegal sale and use of such substances.

Other panelists slated for Tuesday's forum include Ethan Nadelmann and
Marsha Rosenbaum from the Lindesmith Center, a national drug policy
think-tank funded by billionaire philanthropist George Soros.

Kevin Zeese, director of the Washington, D.C.-based Common Sense for Drug
Policy, and author-filmmaker Mike Gray also are scheduled to participate in
the discussion.

Nadelmann, who holds a doctorate degree in political science from Harvard
and a master's degree in international relations from the London School of
Economics, has been described in Rolling Stone magazine as the "point man
for drug policy reform efforts." He is the founder and executive director
of the Lindesmith Center.

Rosenbaum is a sociologist and director of the Lindesmith Center's San
Francisco office. She has received 10 grants from the National Institute on
Drug Abuse to study female heroin addicts, methadone maintenance programs,
cocaine and drug use during pregnancy.

Bunch said the forums intentionally focus on one side of the legalization
debate -- the pro-legalization side.

"The New Mexico Drug Policy Foundation wants to avoid a confrontational and
angry drug policy argument," Bunch said. "We need this kind of forum before
we get to a drug policy debate."

A second forum called "Legalization: A Bold Alternative to the Drug War" is
scheduled for Nov. 16 at the Albuquerque Radisson Hotel.

The second forum, a daylong event, will include Johnson and other drug
policy reform proponents including Republican California Superior Court
Judge James Gray, the executive director of the National Organization for
the Reform of Marijuana Laws and experts on the drug and health policies in
the Netherlands.

Johnson is scheduled to debate drug policy with Bernalillo County District
Attorney Jeff Romero next month.