DRUG CHIEF GIVES CATO CONFERENCE A BOOST

Great publicity for the libertarian Cato Institute's upcoming conference on
drug policy: Its keynote speaker just got jumped on by the country's chief
drug warrior.

New Mexico Gov. Gary E. Johnson (R), who has publicly called the war on
drugs a failure and mused aloud about the possibility of decriminalizing
drug use, last week received a five-page letter from national drug control
policy director Barry R. McCaffrey, asking him to "re-examine" his views.
McCaffrey's spokesman went a bit further, calling Johnson "the poster child
for drug legalization." Cato thinkers, many of whom support some form of
legalization, must be squealing with glee.

Johnson is scheduled to keynote Cato's conference, called "Beyond
Prohibition: An Adult Approach to Drug Policies in the 21st Century," on
Oct. 5.