DRUG-REFORM LOBBYIST ADMITS ERROR

Backers of a bill to legalize marijuana as a medicine for some seriously
ill patients might have doomed that bill in this year's Legislature with a
"tactical error," a drug-reform lobbyist said Friday.

Former Gov. Toney Anaya, a lobbyist for the Lindesmith Center, talked about
the medical-marijuana bill immediately after Gov. Gary Johnson signed into
law several drug-related laws that made it through the Legislature.

The medical-marijuana proposal, sponsored by Sen. Roman Maes, D-Santa Fe,
died when the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 5-5, killing a do- pass
recommendation.

A subsequent attempt to revive the bill on the Senate floor failed
overwhelmingly.

Anaya said he and other medical-marijuana proponents should have accepted a
proposed amendment from Sen. Bill Payne, R-Albuquerque.

That amendment, Anaya said, would have required any state medical marijuana
to comply with federal Drug Enforcement Agency regulations.

The amendment also provided for "get-out-of-jail-free" cards for patients
participating in the program, effectively stopping their being prosecuted
for drug possession, Anaya said.

"At the time, those advising Sen. Maes at the committee hearing thought
this amendment would have undermined the bill," Anaya said.

But in retrospect, he said, the bill's backers should have accepted the
amendment. "To my knowledge, there are no DEA regulations pertaining to
this," Anaya said.

Also working against the medical-marijuana proposal, Anaya said, was a
Supreme Court decision against a California medical-marijuana club. "That
created a lot of confusion," he said, adding he thought bill opponents
purposely used the court decision to cloud the issue.

Anaya mentioned a letter from DEA chief Asa Hutchison opposing the bill
that also influenced some senators.

In 2001, near-identical medical-marijuana bills passed both the House and
Senate. However, neither bill passed both houses, so neither made it to the
governor to be signed.

Johnson said he was disappointed the medical-marijuana bill - and one to
decriminalize the possession of small amounts of pot - didn't make it to
his desk.

"But, being a realist, I'm glad we got the ones we got," he said Friday.

Johnson said he was happy to sign Senate Bill 5, which requires offenders
be convicted of a crime before the government can permanently seize their
property.

He vetoed a similar measure during his first term. Johnson said that veto
was one of his biggest mistakes he has made as governor.

Johnson made drug-law reform a priority during his second term, gaining
national attention.

He hinted to reporters Friday he might be taking some kind of position as a
drug-reform advocate on the national level. He declined to give details.

Among the bills Johnson signed bills Friday:

* House Bill 26, which gives judges the power not to impose extra prison
time for some nonviolent habitual criminals.

* SB263, which sets up a commission to oversee the early release of certain
nonviolent prison inmates.

* HB11 and SB129, both of which allow convicted drug offenders to receive
federal benefits after being released from prison.