DRUG DEBATE HEATS UP

A group opposed to Gov. Gary Johnson's drug-reform bills began airing radio
commercials Wednesday meant to pressure lawmakers to reject the governor's
proposals.

The ads, including one in Spanish broadcast in Northern New Mexico, were
launched as the Legislature reached the midpoint of its 30-day session.

In one advertisement, actors react in disbelief about a proposed bill to
make marijuana legal for certain medical patients, noting the state would
grow the marijuana and state employees would harvest it.

That ad also notes that drug reform is backed by "an out-of-state
billionaire" - a reference to philanthropist George Soros, benefactor of
the national drug-reform organization known as The Lindesmith Center.

Darren White, executive director of Protect New Mexico, a newly formed
anti-drug group, said the advertisements would reach about three-fourths of
the state. He said it was uncertain how long the ads would continue.

All the ads tell listeners they can see the votes of legislators on
drug-related legislation at Protect New Mexico's Web site, and the ads
provide the Legislature's main telephone number.

"The whole basis of the ads is to get people involved in the process,"
White said.

Katharine Huffman of the New Mexico Drug Policy Project, which is
associated with Lindesmith, said she had not heard any of the commercials.

The advertising campaign came as proponents of the governor's drug-law
changes also stepped up their efforts in the Legislature.

A coalition of groups sent a letter to legislators and the governor in
support of a package of measures pending in the Legislature.

The groups included the New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and
the New Mexico Human Needs Coordinating Council.

The letter was published as a full-page advertisement in Wednesday's
edition of The New Mexican.

"New Mexico can no longer afford to let fear or politics get in the way of
real reform," the letter states. "We do not have the time or the money to
waste on another year of drug policies that fail to protect our health and
safety."

At a news conference in the Capitol, supporters said current policies
wrongly focus on prohibiting drug use and incarcerating some offenders
rather than addressing drugs as a medical problem through treatment and
prevention programs.

Some of the drug-law changes are running into trouble in the Legislature.
For instance, a House committee this week shelved a bill to lift criminal
penalties for possession of up to one ounce of marijuana by adults.

However, one of the bills won a committee endorsement Wednesday.

Over the objections of police and district attorneys, the Senate Judiciary
Committee voted 7-2 to give a do-pass recommendation to SB5, an overhaul of
the state's asset-forfeiture law.

Under the bill, drug traffickers or other defendants must be convicted of
crimes before their property - cars or cash, for example - can be
permanently taken. Currently, police can seize property at the time of arrest.

The debate over Johnson's drug-policy changes is taking place against an
election-year backdrop. All 70 House seats are up for election, and a
number of senators are running for higher office.

Santa Fe lawyer Mark Donatelli said instead of punishing politicians who
support drug reform, voters should "vote out of office those people who
took our money and said that they would solve the drug problem."