JOHNSON ATTACKS 'LIES' OF DRUG WAR

WASHINGTON - Drug use would remain steady or decline and crime would be
slashed if drugs were legalized, New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson said today as
he kicked off a tour of the nation's capital.

Johnson, an Albuquerque Republican, told about a dozen college students
that while he believes drugs are "a bad choice" and "a handicap," current
federal anti-drug polices are a failure. "I hate to say it, but the
majority of people who use drugs use them responsibly," Johnson told
members of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy at George Washington
University. "They choose when to do it. They do them at home. It's not a
financial burden."

The governor began the drug-decriminalization debate earlier this summer.
He has asked the state political leaders to remain open-minded to the
decriminalization issue.

But White House drug policy director Barry McCaffrey and other officials
excoriated Johnson last week after he became the first governor to support
drug legalization.

"His pro-drug message runs in the face of all the hard work of millions of
parents, teachers, health professionals, community leaders, coaches and
clergy who are working so hard to stem drug use," McCaffrey said Friday.

Johnson found a friendlier audience in the students.

"Students are experts on drug use," said Kris Lotlikar, a leader of the
group. "We're the children that this war was supposed to protect. But I
have yet to talk to any student who came from a drug-free high school. To
me, that's a failed policy."

As the students sipped bottled water, Johnson told them of his drug use as
a young man and his decision years ago to forgo not only drugs but alcohol
and even soft drinks in favor of training for triathlons.

"I was somebody who smoked marijuana in college. I didn't experiment with
marijuana. I smoked it," Johnson said.

"I made a bad choice, but even then it wasn't a choice that I felt should
have landed me in jail."

Johnson said he supports legalized drugs with strict taxes and control on
their sales and use. Under a legalization scheme, Johnson said, drugs such
as marijuana, heroin and cocaine should not be available to anyone under
21, public drug use should be banned, and penalties enhanced for crimes
such as driving under the influence.

Current drug policy focuses too heavily on throwing people in jail, while
allowing illegal drug cartels to rake in billions of dollars, Johnson said.
And current anti-drug education efforts such as the well-known "This is
your brain on drugs" advertisements amount to lies, he said.

"You're brought up learning that drugs make you crazy," Johnson said. "Then
you do marijuana for the first time, and it's not so bad. It's kind of
cool. That's when kids find out it's been a lie."

Darren White, who as head of New Mexico's Department of Public Safety
oversees the State Police, told the students he was not willing to support
drug legalization but agreed with Johnson that current anti-drug efforts
are misguided.

"We aren't winning the drug war. I can tell you because I'm fighting on the
front lines every day," White said. "I call it a skirmish, because that's
the kind of resources I'm getting to fight it. . . . As a nation, we're not
willing to give up the civil liberties necessary to win the drug war."

Johnson will deliver a keynote speech Tuesday at luncheon by the Cato
Institute, a Libertarian-leaning public policy research group. The
organization is having a conference called "Beyond Prohibition: An Adult
Approach to Drug Policies in the 21st Century."