POLL: DON'T DECRIMINALIZE, BUT POT DOESN'T WARRANT ARREST

Most New Mexicans don't want to decriminalize drugs, although they don't
think you should go to jail if you're found with a little marijuana.

They agree with Gov. Gary Johnson that the nation's war on drugs is a
failure - wasting billions of dollars a year while the problem gets worse.

But while they don't support some of what Johnson says on the issue, they
aren't unhappy with him for pushing a drug-decriminalization agenda on a
national stage.

Those are some of the mixed - and sometimes almost contradictory - results
of a recent statewide poll conducted last week for on drug issues and
Johnson's call for a national debate on decriminalization.

"The big story is that Johnson's drug talk hasn't hurt him too much," said
Brad Coker of Washington-based Mason-Dixon Polling and Research, which
conducted the poll.

"They don't necessarily agree with him - they do on some things but not on
others," Coker said of the voters interviewed in the drug-issues poll. "The
big picture seems to be that he's speaking his mind, and some of the things
he says appear to make sense to the voters and some don't, but people
aren't going to hold any of it against him too much."

The poll, in which 420 registered voters who said they vote regularly in
state elections were questioned, was conducted Monday and Tuesday.

That means poll respondents were questioned while Johnson and his
administration were making headlines on several issues - and not just for
Johnson's drug-issue advocacy, which has put him on several national
television programs and in newspapers coast to coast.

In the past two weeks, there also have been controversies over killings and
riots in private prisons holding New Mexico inmates and state income-tax
notices from Johnson's tax department that went to at least 2,500 taxpayers
who really didn't owe any taxes.

But Johnson's overall approval ratings - the percentage of poll respondents
rating his performance as governor as good or excellent - actually went up
a few percentage points, to 60 percent.

In April - when Johnson was pushing school vouchers as his big issue - 55
percent of those questioned in a Mason-Dixon poll gave Johnson good or
excellent performance ratings.

"He's even getting some share of support among his fellow Republicans, who
you'd except to be more anti-drug," Coker said. "But that has been his
style. He's kind of like Jesse Ventura - for him to say something off the
wall is sort of his style. People let it roll right off."

Poll-takers asked this question: "Gov. Gary Johnson recently expressed his
opinions about the drug problem. Overall, would you say that you agree or
disagree with the governor's views?"

The polling firm said 43 percent disagreed with Johnson, 37 percent agreed
with him, and 20 percent weren't sure.

Statistically, that's a fairly even split because the poll has a margin of
error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

More Democrats (39 percent) than Republicans (35 percent) agreed with the
Republican governor.

The results were quite different for another question: "Gov. Johnson has
suggested that the government should consider decriminalizing drugs. Do you
agree or disagree?"

A clear majority - 60 percent - said they disagreed with decriminalizing
drugs, only 24 percent agreed and 16 percent were undecided. Both Democrats
and Republicans were solidly against decriminalization.

Also, 66 percent of respondents said drug laws should be "more strict."

Eighty-one percent said the drug problem is "very serious," and 54 percent
said it's gotten worse over the past five years.

"They agree with the governor that something isn't working," Coker said.
"But you're getting different answers to different questions on the whys
and the solutions."

By solid majorities - more than 60 percent - poll participants agreed with
Johnson that the nation's war on drugs has failed, been too costly and
overwhelmed the courts and prisons with drug offenders.

But they were much less emphatic on a related question about the governor's
opinion that the drug war has failed "because of an overemphasis on
prosecution and incarceration" - with 44 percent agreeing with Johnson and
40 percent saying they disagreed.

Johnson has suggested consideration of legalizing some now-illegal drug
sales and taxing and regulating the sales, in much the same way as alcohol
sales are now controlled by the government. Only 30 percent favored that
idea, and 50 percent said they were opposed.

Johnson's office did not respond to a request for comment on the poll results.

The poll asked several questions on drug policy without connecting the
questions specifically to Johnson's views. The poll found:

- - 53 percent said people shouldn't go to jail for possessing small amounts
of marijuana and 38 percent said marijuana possession should mean jail time.

In New Mexico, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana is a petty
misdemeanor with conviction resulting in a fine of up to $50, 15 days in
jail or both. Possession of one to eight ounces is a misdemeanor with
possible penalties of a $1,000 fine, up to one year in jail or both.

Local prosecutors said last week that they couldn't recall a case where a
defendant actually was sentenced to jail time for possession of less than
an ounce of marijuana - although there might have been cases where accused
had to spend some time behind bars after an arrest and before bonding out.

"I don't think I've ever seen one go to jail," said Deputy Prosecuting
Attorney Richard Salazar. He said a $50 fine plus court costs is standard
in magistrate court. He said that in some cases, officers don't even take
small-time marijuana holders into custody and instead issue citations
requiring them to appear in court to face charges.

- - 70 percent said selling small amounts of marijuana should mean going to
jail; 22 percent said it shouldn't.

- - 92 percent said people should go to jail for selling small amounts of
cocaine; only 6 percent said this activity shouldn't mean jail time.

Asked to choose between four options for what should be top priority in the
drug war, 50 percent favored interdiction, "which is stopping the
production, importation and movement of drugs"; 27 percent favored
prevention, "which involves efforts to educate and prevent people from
using drugs"; 9 percent favored law enforcement, "which involves arresting
and prosecuting individual drug users"; 9 percent favored treatment, "which
helps current abusers to stop using drugs"; and 9 percent weren't sure.