Pubdate: Wed, 29 Dec 1999
Source: Saint Paul Pioneer Press (MN)
Copyright: 1999 St. Paul Pioneer Press
Contact:  345 Cedar St., St. Paul, MN 55101
Website: http://www.pioneerplanet.com/
Forum: http://www.pioneerplanet.com/watercooler/
Author: Jim Ragsdale, Staff Writer

VENTURA LAUDS CALL TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA

Governor Says Colleague On Right Track With Regulation

Gov. Jesse Ventura, who has long questioned whether laws against marijuana
make sense, had words of praise Tuesday for a fellow governor who has
called for the legalization of all drugs.

In an interview on Minnesota Public Radio, Ventura talked about the
failures of laws against prostitution and marijuana use, and then added a
boost for New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson. Johnson provoked outrage from
fellow politicians and police officers this summer when he said the
legalization and regulation of heroin, cocaine, marijuana and other illegal
drugs would be a better alternative than the failures of the current war on
drugs.

"I'm very pleased that Gov. Johnson of New Mexico has come out very
strongly in support of stopping the war on drugs and going after it a
different way," Ventura said in the interview.

Elaborating on his views on drugs and prostitution, Ventura said,
"Prohibition doesn't mean something's going to go away." He added that he
thinks it is not good policy to arrest prostitutes. "In light of our
situation, where we have an overflow of prisoners right now, and our beds
are full in all our prisons, I don't see where it does any good to arrest
people for prostitution and put them in jail for that," Ventura said.

Asked about marijuana, he said, "I view that as no different than alcohol,
or tobacco, for that matter." He said alcohol and tobacco "buy their
legality" by producing tax revenues.

"You've got two very deadly drugs that buy their legality, simply by paying
taxes," Ventura said. "They pay the government - tobacco pays the
government, and alcohol pays the government, and therefore they are legal -
where all the other ones are not allowed that flexibility, to pay for
legality."

While Ventura has mused off and on about whether marijuana and prostitution
should be legalized, his statement in support of the New Mexico governor
takes his libertarian approach a step further.

Johnson, a Republican in his second and last term, crystallized his views
in a speech to the Cato Institute in Washington in October. He said the war
on drugs, costing $50 billion for police, courts and jails, has been "an
absolute failure," and added, "Should you go to jail simply for doing
drugs? I say no."

Johnson said "by legalizing drugs, we can control them, regulate them and
tax them. If we legalize drugs, we might have a healthier society." He
added, "We need to make drugs a controlled substance just like alcohol.
Perhaps we ought to let the government regulate it; let the government grow
it; let the government manufacture it, distribute it, market it; and if
that doesn't lead to decreased drug use, I don't know what would!"

John Wodele, a spokesman for Ventura, said he does not think Ventura and
Johnson have spoken about the issue, although the two have met at national
gatherings of governors. He said he is unsure if Ventura would go as far as
Johnson has gone but said Ventura appreciates that Johnson is raising the
issues.

"The governor has always been very receptive to ideas that take issues to
the edge," Wodele said. He said Ventura thinks "a huge amount of our tax
dollars are misdirected" in the fight against illegal drugs but added that
he expects no legislative proposals in this area from the governor this year.

Public Safety Commissioner Charlie Weaver, a Ventura appointee and former
legislator and prosecutor, declined to comment on Ventura's remarks. He did
say that despite Ventura's libertarian leanings, the governor has been
sensitive to law enforcement concerns about the use of marijuana for
medicinal purposes and the growing of industrial hemp as a cash crop.

Sen. Allan Spear, DFL-Minneapolis, chairman of the Senate Crime Prevention
Committee and a veteran of drug-policy debates, said after years of
increasing sentences for drug crimes, no one in the Minnesota Legislature
is talking about legalization. But he said he thinks marijuana should not
be "lumped together with the harder drugs," and added that there has been
some discussion about reducing sentences for lesser drug offenders.

Jim Ragsdale can be reached at  or (651) 228-5529.
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