ADVOCATES GEAR UP FOR DRUG-REFORM PUSH

With only one legislative session left under Gov. Gary Johnson's
administration, drug-reform advocates are pushing to get a package of
changes to current state law passed.

To help rally support, the Lindesmith Center Foundation for Drug Policy
Study, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and
the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico are hosting a forum today
at Santa Fe's Unitarian Church to push the cause.

Johnson, a Republican, has called for major reform to the state's drug laws
and is expected once again to push legislation seeking changes during this
year's session, scheduled to begin Jan. 15.

Many of his proposals have failed to win widespread support in the state
Legislature. Some drug-reform advocates are concerned Johnson's successor
might not be as warm to their cause as the state's current executive.

"Our current drug policies are failing us," said Peter Simonson, executive
director of the ACLU of New Mexico. "We spend millions of dollars on
strategies that the last decade has proven ineffective."

The package expected to be proposed during this year's legislative session
includes five bills that will be the topic of today's forum, said Carol
Samuels, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Drug Policy Project.

Simonson said he believes two of the five bills are critical to meaningful
drug reform: giving judges discretion in sentencing drug offenders and
reforming the state's asset-forfeiture law.

Under the state's current policies, law-enforcement agencies can seize the
house, car and cash of a suspect before he or she is convicted of a crime,
such as drug trafficking.

"It's pretty startling. It's shocking, in fact," Simonson said of the
current asset-forfeiture laws.

The proposed changes that will be presented to the state Legislature this
year would require police agencies to wait until someone is actually
convicted before attempting to seize his or her property and sending that
money to the state's general fund instead of to police agencies.

Just as important, Simonson said, is "restoring judicial discretion" and
allowing judges to set sentences they deem fit rather than following
minimum-sentencing guidelines that can clog the prison system with
nonviolent drug users.

The drug-reform bills expected to be introduced during the session will
also include proposals to legalize marijuana for medical use; create civil,
rather than criminal, penalties for possession of 1 ounce or less of
marijuana; and set up a system that will offer nonviolent drug users
treatment instead of jail time.

Simonson said these changes go beyond Johnson. All New Mexicans should be
concerned about the proposed bills, he said.

"The governor's support is certainly appreciated, but this is an issue all
of New Mexico should be concerned about, regardless of their political
affiliation," Simonson said.

The forum will be held from 9 a.m. to noon at the Unitarian Universalist
Church at Barcelona and Galisteo streets.