As the first elected official I've heard speak out against the "war on
drugs," the Republican governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson, is brave,
wise and deserving of praise. Maybe he's just wise, but probably he is
also strong since he told the truth while so many others just go along
with it.

The "drug czar," Gen. Barry McCaffrey, said just the other day in
front of a Senate committee that the worst problem this country has is
the teen-agers smoking marijuana. Now, who believes that?

And if he can say that without any evidence, what teen-agers will
believe anything else he has to say?

I am afraid many of our elected officials are simply bought off by
the ones who make money from the abuse of drugs. But Gov. Johnson
apparently hasn't been.

Gary Petz,
Houston