Pubdate: Wed, 30 Jan 2002
Source: Albuquerque Journal (NM)
Copyright: 2002 Albuquerque Journal
Contact:  http://www.abqjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/10
Author: S.U. Mahesh
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/johnson.htm (Johnson, Gary)

MARIJUANA DECRIMINALIZATION PLAN DIES

SANTA FE -- A proposal to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana for 
personal use appears to be dead for the year.

A House committee voted unanimously Tuesday to table the most controversial 
measure of Gov. Gary Johnson's drug reform package. It would have provided 
for only civil penalties, rather than criminal, for possession of up to an 
ounce of marijuana by people 18 years or older.

"We're very pleased with the outcome," said Darren White, executive 
director for Protect New Mexico, a group lobbying against Johnson's drug 
reforms.

White, Johnson's former Cabinet secretary for public safety and a 
Republican candidate for Bernalillo County sheriff, called the tabling "a 
victory to our children and our neighborhoods."

The vote came from the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee on a 
bill sponsored by Rep. Gail Beam, D-Albuquerque. There was no debate.

Rep. Patsy Trujillo Knauer, a Santa Fe Democrat and chairwoman of the 
committee, said legislators don't have time to debate the issue in their 
30-day budget session.

"I feel for that reason, we should table it," Trujillo Knauer told the 
committee. On that note, lawmakers on the committee, including Beam, voted 
to table the bill.

Supporters of the measure accused Democrats of deliberately killing the 
controversial measure because it is an election year, with all 70 seats in 
the House on the ballot.

The Rev. Bryan Krumm, director for the New Mexicans for Compassionate Use, 
said he was disappointed by the committee's action but not surprised.

"It's obvious that this Legislature is not willing to address the drug 
reforms," Krumm said "The political climate is such that the politicians 
are not willing to take up this issue. They don't want to be viewed as 
being soft on crime."

Former Gov. Toney Anaya, a lobbyist for the Lindesmith Center, which is 
advocating drug-law reforms nationally, said he anticipated the committee 
would table the bill.

"This is the most controversial issue in the whole (drug reform) package," 
Anaya said. He acknowledged that the election year, coupled with a short 
legislative session, made it more difficult.

Johnson, an outspoken critic of the nation's war on drugs, is pushing a 
package of drug-law changes in his final legislative session as governor.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jackl