TEENS TO NEW MEXICO'S GOVERNOR: WALK DRUG-RIDDEN STREETS

ESPANOLA, N.M. - Teenagers in this city, known for its high rate of heroin
addiction, have a message for the first governor to advocate legalized
narcotics: Come walk our drug-infested streets.

"Maybe he's never had a family member or neighbor who has overdosed," David
Medina, a 17-year-old high-school senior, said yesterday. "We've just grown
up with it."

Gov. Gary Johnson, a Republican in his second term, voiced support earlier
this year for the legalization of cocaine, heroin and marijuana under strict
controls and taxation.

"Control it. Regulate it. Tax it. If we legalize it, we just might have a
better society," the governor told the libertarian Cato Institute, adding
that the war on drugs has been a multibillion-dollar failure.

Some Espanola High School students in this middle-class, mostly Hispanic
community along the Rio Grande said they want to take the governor on an
in-depth tour.

"He should go trekking for trash on the back streets of our community to see
how many syringes he can find," said Milena Archuleta, 16, a junior.

Archuleta said that nobody who has seen what goes on in her city could
possibly want to legalize drugs. "He has to be more aware of the problem. He
doesn't bother to come and see. If he legalizes drugs it's only going to get
worse," she said.

Over the past few years, the city has seen an increase in drug abuse. Since
1995, more than 90 people have died of heroin or cocaine overdoses in Rio
Arriba County.

While New Mexico led the nation in drug-induced deaths last year, the county
recorded the highest death rate in the state. In August, the U.S. Justice
Department said the county's greatest health threats were drugs and alcohol.

Davina Romero says the governor would be throwing in the towel if he
legalized drugs. "It seems like he's giving up on everything," said Romero,
16, a junior.

Asked to explain his position, the governor said: "I would be looking to
improve on that situation. . . . My motivation here is to actually reduce
drug abuse."

Johnson said he believes there's a place for anti-drug programs and drug
counselors in schools, but he doesn't support the entire anti-drug message.

"I think so much of the drug war is based on untruth, and that's one of the
problems when it comes to kids. They've been told that drugs fry your brain,
drugs make you go crazy, drugs make you do crime, and of course marijuana's
lumped in there," he said.

Parents in Rio Arriba County have mixed feelings about how legalization
would affect their children. Stacie Pfeifer said teaching her 2-year-old son
about drugs will be her job and the governor's opinion shouldn't influence
her son.

But Paul Lovato said he has a stronger message for his children. When his
9-year-old son asked what the governor wanted to do, "I said he wants to
bring bad things into the system," Lovato said.