ESPANOLA STUDENTS OPPOSE LEGALIZATION

Students in this northern New Mexico city known for its high rates of
heroin addiction and drug overdoses are urging the governor to walk in
their shoes before he spends any more time promoting drug legalization.

Gov. Gary Johnson stopped in this middle-class, mostly Hispanic community
along the Rio Grande during his recent Trek for Trash, but students say he
stuck to the main roads and the plaza. Some Espanola High School students
want to take him on a more 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 high school junior.

Nobody who has seen what goes on in this community could possibly want to
legalize drugs, Archuleta said.

"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.

"Maybe he's never had a family member or neighbor that has overdosed," said
David Medina, 17, a senior. "We've just grown up with it."

Over the past few years, the city has seen an increase in heroin abuse and
drug overdoses. Since 1995, more than 90 people have died of heroin or
cocaine overdoses in Rio Arriba County. New Mexico led the nation in
drug-induced deaths last year, with Rio Arriba recording the highest death
rate in the state.

Last month, 34 people were arrested in drug raids after a 10-month
investigation. In the week after the arrests, nine people were treated in
area hospitals for drug overdoses.

In August, the U.S. Justice Department released a report that 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 to a teen-ager in Espanola, 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 like DARE,
Drug Abuse Resistance Education, and drug counselors in schools, but
doesn't support the entire anti-drug message.

"I would just say that what's being taught right now isn't the truth. It's
well-intentioned, but it's just not the truth," he said. "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.

Unfortunately, once teens learn marijuana doesn't necessarily lead to such
problems, they may decide to try harder drugs such as cocaine and heroin,
he said.

Johnson has said drug abuse will be reduced in this country when there is
control, regulation and taxation.

The students in Espanola just can't see how legalization will help.

Drugs are already easy to get, so with legalization use is "going to
explode," Medina said.

Parents in Rio Arriba County have mixed feelings about how legalization
would impact their children.

Parent 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 kids. 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.