GALVIN SAYS 'NUTS' TO N.M. PROPOSAL

Former Toledo police Chief Gerald Galvin and other members of the New
Mexico Police Chiefs Association have taken their governor to task
over suggestions that the state should legalize marijuana, heroin, and
cocaine.

New Mexico's governor, Gary Johnson, in remarks earlier this year,
called the war on drugs a costly failure and suggested
decriminalization of certain substances.

The comments irked members of the chiefs association, which invited
the governor to "discuss" the issue with its members.

Chief Galvin, who is the head of the Albuquerque police department, is
among those members.

Governor Johnson's suggestion, Chief Galvin said flatly, "is
nuts."

Granted, society needs to put more emphasis on treatment, he
said.

However decriminalization causes more problems that it solves, Chief
Galvin said.

"We will have more addicted people," he said, adding that more
addictions lead to problems such as child abuse and neglect, murders,
rapes, and other violence.

Chief Galvin pointed out that alcohol is a legal drug.

"And look at the problems alcohol causes. There's more death, more
violence, more family destruction because of alcohol," he said.
"That's why the governor's view on decriminalization [of other drugs]
is nuts."

Chief Galvin left Toledo in 1998 to take the reins of the Albuquerque
police department, which has 850 police officers and is the state's
largest police department.