N.M. GUV IS 1 BLOKE OVER THE LINE

Speaking at George Washington University last week, New Mexico Gov. Gary
Johnson invoked the biggest lie of the drug-legalization movement: The drug
war is a multibillion dollar flop.

Johnson is the first governor to call for unconditional surrender - the
legalization of cocaine and heroin as well as marijuana. He smoked pot
regularly as a student and found it delightful and salutary. ``I hate to
say it, but the majority of people who use drugs use them responsibly,''
the Republican said. Clearly, Johnson hasn't spent much time in prisons,
rehab centers, homeless shelters, emergency rooms or the seedier sections
of our inner cities.

The drug war a failure? All of our policy initiatives should be such a bust.

According to ``The Index of Leading Cultural Indicators,'' between 1979 and
1997, there was a 60 percent decline in marijuana use nationally. From 1985
to 1997, cocaine use decreased 77 percent.

Legalizers invariably retort that this progress is due exclusively to
education. (Enforcement played no part, they insist.) Really, then why is
teen smoking on the rise, despite incessant anti-tobacco appeals aimed at
youth?

It is no coincidence that crime rates are now at their lowest level since
1973. Between 1990 and 1997, the total crime rate in the United States fell
15.4 percent. Violent crimes are down 17 percent. Fight drugs and you fight
crime.

In 1997, 57 percent of state prisoners reported using drugs in the month
before their offense.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed
non-users who live with those who use drugs are 11 times more likely to die
violently than those in drug-free homes.

In Detroit, 75 percent of all child abuse cases are linked to drugs.
Cocaine is responsible for 20 percent of highway fatalities in New York
state. In 1995, there were 931,000 drug-related emergency room admissions.

Legalize drugs and all of the above will be multiplied by some unknown
factor. Responsible drug use is as much of an oxymoron as responsible road
rage.

You don't have to be the nation's drug czar to know that drugs loosen
inhibitions and inhibit thinking. They make some people lazy and others
crazy. Crack stimulates violence and paranoia. Heroin addicts have a hard
time holding down jobs. Pot heads tend to be listless.

I don't know anyone who believes that legalization will result in a decline
in consumption. If some people are willing to risk substantial penalties to
puff, snort or shoot up, imagine how many more will enter the drug scene
when cheaper narcotics can be indulged risk-free.

Health care costs, crime rates, domestic violence, joblessness - all would
soar. The war on drugs is costly, and worth every cent.

Ask the father of a child who's died from an overdose. Ask the mother who's
seen her once-promising student (in the words of Dr. Timothy Leary) turn
on, tune in and drop out.

Ask the man who has struggled with his addiction for decades. Ask the coke
baby in hell for his mother's habit. Ask the 3-year-old who's left alone in
a filthy apartment by her addict mother or beaten to death by mom's doper
boyfriend.

Or, you could pose that question to Robert Downey Jr. at the Los Angeles
County Jail. In August, the star of ``Chaplin'' and ``Restoration'' was
sentenced to three years.

Wealth and fame notwithstanding, Downey couldn't make it as a responsible
drug user. In June 1996, the star was stopped for speeding. Inside his
truck, police found crack cocaine, heroin and a pistol. Firearms frequently
facilitate responsible drug use.

After that arrest, the actor broke into a neighbor's home and fell asleep
on a child's bed. Afterwards, there were repeated violations of probation.

At his sentencing, Downey told Judge Lawrence Mira, ``It's like I have a
shotgun in my mouth, and I got my finger on the trigger, and I like the
taste of the gun metal.''

If Gov. Johnson and other legalizers have their way, many more Americans
will develop that singular taste, and the rest of us will get to clean up
the brain matter.