JOHNSON APPALLS OWN PARTY WITH LATEST DRUG TALK

Gov. Gary Johnson's call to legalize marijuana and heroin drew severe
criticism from some Republican party leaders, one of whom said the issue
"undermines" Johnson's ability to be effective for the remainder of his term.

State Senate Minority Leader Skip Vernon, an Albuquerque Republican, said
today that his reaction to the governor's latest remarks is "supreme
disappointment." "There is absolutely no Republican legislative support for
legalizing any drug and most especially heroin," Vernon said. "For the
governor to admit that it cannot happen in New Mexico but continue to
pursue this course undermines his credibility and his ability to be an
effective governor for the next three years."

Albuquerque Republican Ted Hobbs, the House minority leader, said the
governor is on his own on the drug issue.

"I totally disagree with the legalization of drugs and with the
decriminalization of drugs," Hobbs said. "Most of the Republicans I know
disagree as well. Taking this position on drugs is very much his personal
direction, as is his performance in athletic events. It's his thing, and I
believe most people view it that way."

State Republican Party chairman John Dendahl said he was concerned the
governor's talk about drug policy is obscuring more favored Republican
topics like taxes and education reform.

"That is a concern, that preoccupation with talking about drug policy will
overwhelm the state issues," Dendahl said.

After months of saying he only wanted to open a state and national debate
on the subject, Johnson voiced support for legalization of some drugs such
as marijuana and heroin as an alternative to the current drug policy.

"I am advocating that I think legalization is a viable alternative to what
we are now doing," Johnson said at a news conference Wednesday.

Johnson said he had no plans to propose legislation to make drugs legal in
New Mexico but said he personally supports legalization as a national policy.

Johnson's comments came as he prepared to step again into the national
spotlight on the drug issue. He is scheduled to appear at a Cato Institute
conference on the subject next week in Washington, D.C. The libertarian
Cato Institute advocates drug legalization.

Johnson, who has admitted using marijuana and cocaine in the 1970s, is the
highest ranking elected official in the nation to promote drug legalization.

Although Dendahl said he didn't believe Johnson's support for
decriminalizing marijuana and heroin would hurt Republicans in future
elections, he said party leaders throughout the state would have to remain
focused on taxes and education reform issues.

"We have to be sensitive to the facts on the ground," Dendahl said. "If we
believe our issues are becoming subordinated, we have to caution the
governor not to let that happen."

Vernon said he realizes the governor has no future political plans of his
own, but he said he wished Johnson had waited until the last year of his
term to unleash his controversial drug views.

"This governor has three years left on a four-year term," he said. "He has
accomplished some very good things for New Mexico, and in the next three
years we were hoping to do more. But what I see happening is that this push
for legalizing drugs is creating a divide that I hope will not creep into
other areas."

Hobbs said Johnson needs to keep those other policies in mind.

"I think the governor has to have a broader vision of what his agenda is,"
he said. "He has to look at corrections and taxes."

Some Republicans have objected that Johnson is going against the party's
national platform that backs strong criminal penalties for drug-related
crimes.

"Maybe the next thing he'll do is be bold enough to smoke a joint on TV,"
Sen. Billy McKibben, a Hobbs Republican, said of Johnson.

McKibben said Johnson "has come out of the closet."

"That clarifies it now, so that all of the Johnson supporters and the dope
addicts will know for sure that the governor is advocating that -- not just
a discussion, but the actual legalization. And let him carry that burden on
out to the general public," McKibben said.

The governor said his views have evolved as he's done more research on drug
policies.

Johnson said he favors drug legalization as the best approach for changing
national policies that rely on prohibition and criminal sanctions as a way
to deal with addiction and abuse of drugs.

Decriminalization of some drugs, Johnson said, would not eliminate the
black market economy of trafficking and growing of drugs. Legalization
would allow governments to regulate, tax and control drugs like alcohol and
tobacco.

Johnson said he considers it possible to legalize drugs and not have an
increase in drug use. And the governor reiterated that he was not condoning
the use of drugs by children, calling them a "bad choice."

In addition, Johnson made it clear that legalization of drugs would require
new laws such as prohibiting drug use by children, much as alcohol sales
are prohibited to anyone under age 21.

Despite his support for drug legalization, Johnson acknowledged that it was
politically unrealistic.

"Realistically speaking, if you can start with marijuana, I would suggest
that's huge. And realistically speaking, that may be 15 years off. But it
would be better to have it 15 years off than 80 years off. And talking
about it now, in my opinion, is going to get that closer," Johnson said.