POLICE ESTIMATE 30K FLEE JUAREZ VIOLENCE, REP. BETO O'ROURKE SAYS

EL PASO -- City Rep. Beto O'Rourke on Friday defended his stance for
legalizing marijuana as a way to combat drug violence in Juarez, and
said thousands of Mexican nationals are escaping to El Paso.

He made the comments during a live online chat with readers of elpasotimes.com.

"The estimate from our chief of police, Greg Allen, is that in the
last two years over 30,000 Mexican nationals have moved to El Paso to
flee the violence in Juarez," O'Rourke said in response to a
question. "There is obviously going to be pressure and discomfort
involved, as well as some immediate economic and cultural enrichment
in El Paso."

O'Rourke said Allen used those figures during a Jan. 12 City Council meeting.

"He had an item on the agenda to purchase 1,100 M4 assault rifles,
and the primary reason he gave was in the last two years, 30,000
people have moved over here from Juarez and we don't know exactly who
those people are or who is following them," O'Rourke said in an
interview after the chat.

Allen was out of town on Friday and could not comment on how he
arrived at the figure of 30,000. He said at that Jan. 12 meeting that
the El Paso Police Department needed to be prepared for spillover if
the violence across the border continued to escalate.

More than 130 people submitted comments or questions in the hourlong
chat with O'Rourke. It dealt mostly with America's relationship with
Mexico, the violence in Juarez and the legalization of marijuana.

"We know that drug sales and drug prohibition are contributing to the
violence," O'Rourke wrote. "And so we owe it to ourselves to confront
that as one of many contributing issues -- others being lack of rule
of law in Juarez and the lack of a holistic Mexico policy in the U.S."

O'Rourke also said that the United States needs to acknowledge the
demand for marijuana and be more honest about how to deal with it.

"Enforcement and interdiction have been the policy priorities for
over 40 years -- to the tune of over a trillion dollars -- and drugs
are just as available as ever," he said.

O'Rourke, though, said he does not condone the use of marijuana.

"I don't want my kids to use marijuana, and I think that especially
given what's going on in Juarez right now, no one should be using
marijuana," he said. "Its purchase and use is directly contributing
to the violence in Juarez."

During the online chat, participates were asked: "Do you support
legalization of marijuana?"

Fifty-three percent said "yes," 44 percent voted "no" and 3 percent
were "unsure."

O'Rourke, 36, also used the forum to hint at his plans in politics.

"I never say never, but I really can't see a scenario where I run for
the city again," he said after the chat. "I really don't like the
fact that so many critical positions in our community are held by the
same person year after year after year."

O'Rourke, whose term expires in June 2011, said sometimes it's best
just to get out of the way.

"It's not healthy for democracy," he said. "You need to have
turnover. You have to have new ideas. There is a lot to be said for a
healthy turnover."

The entire transcript of Friday's live chat with O'Rourke is
available at elpasotimes.com/live .