TWO MORE OFFICIALS QUIT DRUG COUNCIL

Two more members of a state council that advises Gov. Gary Johnson on drugs
have resigned because they don't support his call to legalize and regulate
them.

The latest members of the Drug Enforcement Advisory Council to quit are
David Kitchen, special agent in charge of the FBI in New Mexico, and Otero
County Sheriff John Lee.

Bill Hansen, assistant special agent in charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration in Albuquerque, resigned earlier this week, leaving 13
members on the council. The council is made up of federal, state and local
law enforcement members and prosecutors, and also oversees anti-narcotics
operations. Lee couldn't be reached for comment, but Sandoval County
Sheriff Ray Rivera, chairman of the council, said Lee told him of his
resignation Thursday. Rivera said Lee said "he could not serve for a
governor that wants to legalize marijuana and heroin."

Kitchen agreed.

"I regret (resigning) because I think the board was making some progress
collectively in addressing some of the drug problems in New Mexico," he
said Thursday, "but I cannot in good conscience support his current
position on legalization and decriminalization of marijuana and heroin."

Johnson's press secretary, Diane Kinderwater, said Johnson believes Kitchen
and Hansen are listening to their federal superiors, and want to stick with
the status quo -- a war on drugs that's not working.

Rivera said he tried to talk Lee and Kitchen out of resigning.

"Who cares what the governor is talking about on national television, as
long as we hold tight within the state and do the job that we're hired to
do?" Rivera asked.

Kinderwater said Johnson's objective is "the same as that of all Americans
- -- to lower the use and abuse of drugs in this country" by taxing and
regulating them and through education.