John Sanchez, the Republican nominee for governor, has come under scrutiny for statements he has made about whether he ever used drugs. The point here isn't whether Sanchez ever experimented with marijuana, but rather if he has been consistent in his answers when asked about any drug use, past or present. From here on, pay particular attention to the word "adult." A recent story by Barry Massey of The Associated Press noted that Sanchez said on a KKOB-AM talk show in May that he had not used illegal drugs. Sanchez, along with Lt. Gov. Walter Bradley and Rep. Rob Burpo, R-Albuquerque, were asked in the radio interview, "Have you guys done drugs?" [continues 715 words]
SANTA FE - Gov. Gary Johnson on Friday signed into law several drug reform bills, which he called "steps in reducing the harm caused by the failed war on drugs." "These will make a difference in the lives of New Mexicans," said Johnson, who has gained national attention for his crusade to reform drug laws. "I think this legislation will result in less death, disease and crime." The measures signed by Johnson: * Grant judges more discretion in sentencing nonviolent habitual offenders. Sponsored by Rep. Ken Martinez, D-Grants, it takes effect July 1. [continues 300 words]
Gov. In Tv Debate With Ex-policy Chief Gov. Gary Johnson went head-to-head with former U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey on the nation's drug war on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, with McCaffrey mocking Johnson's "facts" on the issue. "Everybody is entitled to their own opinions, and I certainly respect the governor for forcefully expressing his," McCaffrey said. "You're not entitled to your own facts." McCaffrey told moderator Tim Russert he had contacted Johnson's office to see where the governor got his information about drug law reform. [continues 552 words]
Gov. Gary Johnson leaves today on a two-week trip, in part to tout his views on drug reform at Harvard Medical School, Florida State University and to appear on NBC's "Meet the Press." Johnson's planned travels to beat the drum on drug law reform drew immediate criticism Tuesday from House Speaker Ben Lujan, D-Santa Fe, and a Republican lawmaker. Lujan said Johnson should take an "unpaid leave of absence" as the state's chief executive while on his national drug reform crusade. [continues 409 words]
SANTA FE -- Gov. Gary Johnson took on former U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey on national television Wednesday, with McCaffrey blasting Johnson for "irresponsible thinking" in pushing drug law reform. Johnson and McCaffrey sparred over the nation's war on drugs on CNN's Inside Politics program. Johnson was filmed at the Capitol, where he had difficulty hearing some of McCaffrey's statements because of technical problems. During an October 1999 visit to Albuquerque, not long after Johnson began his national campaign to change drug laws, McCaffrey had mockingly referred to Johnson as "Puff Daddy Johnson." [continues 304 words]
SANTA FE -- Republican House members moved Tuesday to distance themselves from comments made by their state party chairman in support of proposed drug law reform. At least a half-dozen of the 28 House Republicans also sided with Democratic House members in criticizing GOP Chairman John Dendahl for calling House Speaker Ben Lujan, D-Santa Fe, a "thug enforcer" in a recent state Republican Party news release. "Mr. Speaker, Mr. Dendahl does not speak for us. He never has," House Minority Whip Earlene Roberts, R-Lovington, told Lujan on the House floor. "We as a group do not support what Mr. Dendahl said about drugs." [continues 445 words]
SANTA FE -- Sen. Pete Domenici said Wednesday that New Mexico Republican Party chairman John Dendahl went "across the line" in his advocacy of drug law reform and should resign. "I don't think he should be chairman anymore," said Domenici, who is the state's most prominent Republican and its senior senator. "I have told him that in plain English," Domenici said in an interview from Washington. "He should step down." Domenici said he "strongly disagrees" with Dendahl's support of Gov. Gary Johnson's eight-bill drug-reform package pending before the state Legislature. The package includes proposals to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, reduce penalties for possessing some other drugs and legalize marijuana for medical purposes. [continues 622 words]
SANTA FE - Gov. Gary Johnson, recovering from a fall on the ice while running last week, got his new back brace signed by lawmakers Wednesday when he paid surprise visits to the House and Senate floors. Johnson, who called his injury a broken back, dropped by the Capitol for a couple of hours on his way home from a morning visit to his doctor. He said he hoped to begin easing back into his regular work schedule. "I hope to get back a little bit more each day," said Johnson, who was dressed in jeans and cowboy boots and wore his plastic brace over a white T-shirt. "I'll play that by ear." [continues 392 words]
SANTA FE - Republican Gov. Gary Johnson will stress his hope for cooperation with the Democrat-controlled Legislature when he delivers his annual State of the State address today. "He's going to be talking about 'a new beginning,' '' said Dave Miller, the governor's legislative liaison. "He's still very encouraged." The state's 112 legislators will have a full agenda as they gather at the Roundhouse for the start of their 60-day session, which is wide open in terms of topics that can be considered. [continues 640 words]
SANTA FE -- Republican Gov. Gary Johnson says if he could hand-pick his successor as New Mexico's chief executive, he would choose state GOP chairman John Dendahl over Lt. Gov. Walter Bradley. "In a second, I would hand pick John Dendahl," Johnson said Tuesday at a news conference. However, Johnson also said Bradley would make "a great governor" and would receive his support. Dendahl was among several Republicans who sought the GOP nomination for governor in 1994. Johnson won the nomination and went on to defeat Gov. Bruce King, a Democrat, and Green Party nominee Roberto Mondragon. [continues 359 words]
An unconventional vice presidential candidate was in New Mexico on Tuesday to woo voters - and to meet with an unconventional governor. Natural Law Party vice presidential nominee Nat Goldhaber met privately on Tuesday with Republican Gov. Gary Johnson in Albuquerque. Goldhaber, the running mate of presidential candidate John Hagelin, also spoke at the New Mexico Native American 2000 Election Forum at Isleta Pueblo. Goldhaber said he wanted to meet Johnson because of the governor's controversial national push to legalize marijuana and to change other drug laws. [continues 214 words]
Gov. Gary Johnson's popularity has rebounded some, but it's still not as high as it was before he launched a national push to legalize marijuana and change other drug laws, a Journal poll found. "Johnson's favorability rating is back up above his unfavorability rating," said Brian Sanderoff of Research and Polling Inc., which conducted the poll. "The bad news for the governor is less than half of the registered voters in New Mexico approve of his job performance," Sanderoff said. [continues 595 words]
Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader is expected to call today for a new strategy to combat drug abuse, emphasizing treatment over jail for nonviolent offenders. The famous consumer advocate is to be joined by Republican Gov. Gary Johnson at a news conference in Santa Fe, where Nader will criticize the federal government's war on drugs "as a colossal failure," the Nader campaign staff confirmed Thursday. Johnson has received national attention for calling for the legalization of marijuana and other drug law changes. He has suggested the billions of dollars spent on incarceration and law enforcement in the drug war should instead go toward treatment and education programs to reduce drug use. [continues 747 words]
State Democratic Party chairwoman Diane Denish said Monday that Republican Gov. Gary Johnson should resign for glorifying cocaine use. "It's time for somebody to say he ought to quit being governor," Denish said in an interview. "He's obviously just using the platform of his office to promote all this drug stuff." Johnson's office said he has no intention of resigning. "Rather than resign, he's going to redouble his efforts, including the message, 'Don't do drugs. They're a bad choice,' '' said Dave Miller, Johnson's legislative liaison. [continues 456 words]
SANTA FE — Gov. Gary Johnson is back on the national stage today in Philadelphia to promote a pet cause — the legalization of marijuana and reform of drug laws. Johnson, along with the Rev. Jesse Jackson and rap star Chuck D of Public Enemy, is to be a featured speaker at a so-called "shadow" convention. The shadow convention, running simultaneously with the Republican National Convention, is designed to focus attention on issues the major political parties won't touch, organizers said. Those issues include drug law reform and campaign finance reform. [continues 386 words]
SANTA FE -- New Mexico could save millions of dollars by requiring drug offenders to go into treatment programs instead of jail, an assistant public defender told lawmakers Friday. "Changing the law and requiring mandatory treatment will reduce the prison population, save the state of New Mexico money and reduce crime," said Jacqueline Cooper, who manages the drug court diversion program in the Public Defender's Office in Bernalillo County. "We need to treat drug offenders for what they are," Cooper told the Legislature's interim Courts and Criminal Justice Committee. "They are addicts. They are sick people with a chronic illness. They are the mentally ill with substance abuse problems." [continues 363 words]
Health Secretary Alex Valdez said Monday he thinks New Mexico should repeal its medical marijuana law and replace it with one modeled on Hawaii's new program. "It's an ineffective piece of legislation for all intents and purposes, which should be repealed," Valdez told fellow members of the newly appointed Governor's Drug Policy Advisory Group. "However, something should be put in its place to reduce the pain and suffering that many people in this state are going through," Valdez said. [continues 689 words]
SANTA FE -- Gov. Gary Johnson has something in common with Warren Beatty, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and John McCain. All are scheduled to be featured speakers at so-called "shadow" conventions July 30 through Aug. 4 during the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia and Aug. 13 through 17 during the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. Johnson said he was invited to speak at the shadow conventions by syndicated columnist and author Arianna Huffington because of his national push to legalize marijuana and change other drug laws. Huffington, a vocal drug war opponent, is one of the hosts of the shadow conventions, along with Common Cause, the Lindesmith Center and other activist groups. [continues 394 words]
SANTA FE - Gov. Gary Johnson has formed an advisory group to develop drug policies in New Mexico in line with his national push to legalize marijuana and change other drug laws. The nine-member group is charged with developing so-called "harm reduction" policies in New Mexico for harder drugs, such as heroin, said Dave Miller, Johnson's legislative liaison. The policies would include treatment and prevention programs, needle exchanges, increased education, government-run clinics to dispense drugs to addicts and methadone prescription programs, Miller said. Miller is working with the panel, chaired by retired state District Judge W.C. "Woody" Smith of Albuquerque. [continues 442 words]
SANTA FE -- Gov. Gary Johnson said Tuesday he intends to keep pushing for the legalization of marijuana after he leaves office in 21/2 years. "This is really coming from my heart," Johnson told a University of New Mexico senior history seminar studying the nation's drug wars. "This is one of those topics that you could dedicate your life to, hoping that it could make a positive difference for all mankind. So I hope to stay involved." However, Johnson said in an interview afterward that he does not know how he will stay involved in the fight to legalize drugs after he leaves office at the end of 2002. [continues 384 words]
SANTA FE - Gov. Gary Johnson, a day after he appeared on "60 Minutes" advocating the legalization of heroin and marijuana, said Monday he now thinks only marijuana should be legalized. Harder drugs, including heroin, should be handled by so-called "harm reduction" programs, including more drug treatment and prevention, government-run clinics to dispense drugs to addicts, needle exchanges and increased education, Johnson said. Johnson said his thinking has evolved since the CBS television program was taped in December. "When you talk about the legalization of heroin, it just scares people," Johnson said in an interview. "So I think I'm going to focus on legalization of marijuana and talk about harm reduction when it comes to heroin and other drugs." [continues 661 words]
SANTA FE -- Gov. Gary Johnson on Wednesday said lawmakers were infringing on his freedom of speech when they tried to prevent him from spending taxpayer money on his national campaign to legalize certain drugs. The anti-drug provision was included in the $3.5 billion budget for general government operations approved by lawmakers during the special session, which ended April 4. Johnson signed most of the budget into law Wednesday. But he used his line-item veto to slash a provision that banned the use of budget money to "promote the legalization or decriminalization of controlled substances." [continues 174 words]
SANTA FE - Gov. Gary Johnsonsaid Tuesday that he knew his popularity would plummet when he started advocating the legalization of illicit drugs, including marijuana and heroin. But Johnson said he plans to continue to speak out in favor of drug legalization because he believes it is the right thing to do. "I recognized that if I had good approval, that that good approval was going to dive," Johnson told reporters. "I recognized that prior to doing any of this." Johnson's approval rating with voters has plunged nearly 20 points in the past year, declining from a 54 percent level to 35 percent earlier this month, according to a recent Journal poll. [continues 488 words]
Gov. Gary Johnson's voter approval rating plunged nearly 20 points in the past year, declining from a 54 percent level to 35 percent last week, according to a new Journal poll. At the same time, more than two-thirds of the New Mexico voters surveyed called Johnson's recent push for marijuana and heroin legalization a bad idea. In the latest Journal survey on voter regard for his job performance, Johnson's disapproval rating climbed above his approval rating for the first time since he took office in 1995. [continues 662 words]
SANTA FE -- The Senate voted 37-4 on Wednesday to oppose drug legalization in a slap at Republican Gov. Gary Johnson. The governor has received widespread national media attention for advocating the legalization of marijuana, heroin and other illicit drugs. The Senate stopped short of endorsing a measure that chastised Johnson for "wasting valuable time and resources, including travel expenses, to advocate the legalization of horrendous narcotics such as heroin." With Lt. Gov. Walter Bradley casting the deciding vote, the Senate voted 20-19 to table an amendment by Sen. Phil Griego, D-San Jose, that said "Johnson is once again offering sound bites rather than solutions to the drug epidemic." [continues 474 words]
Gov. Gary Johnson and Bernalillo County District Attorney Jeff Romero said they want to reduce drug use, but they agreed on little else Tuesday during a televised debate on drug legalization. "If we legalize drugs, the number of addicts is going to go up. Crime is going to go up, and we're going to be allocating more resources to law enforcement," Romero, a Democrat, said during the one-hour debate on KRQE Channel 13 in Albuquerque. Tuesday's forum was Johnson's first one-on-one debate with a drug-legalization opponent since the governor first called the war on drugs a failure last summer. [continues 408 words]
U.S. Attorney John Kelly on Wednesday told Gov. Gary Johnson he should show more leadership in working to reduce drug use, instead of pushing for drug legalization. Kelly and other members of Johnson's Drug Enforcement Advisory Council urged the governor to support more early intervention programs to keep kids off drugs and more drug treatment programs for prison inmates. "We need you to play a role," Kelly told Johnson at a council meeting in Albuquerque. "You need to provide that leadership." [continues 483 words]
Gov. Gary Johnson on Monday named retired Albuquerque Police Department Capt. Nicholas Bakas his new Department of Public Safety secretary, calling him "a cop's cop" with "an open mind" about Johnson's push to legalize drugs. Johnson said he was impressed when Bakas told him that "police are not afraid of change" when they discussed the issue of legalizing drugs during a job interview for the Cabinet post. Bakas retired from APD in October 1998 after 26 years. "Nick impressed me as a cop's cop," Johnson said at a news conference in the Capitol to announce Bakas' appointment. [continues 507 words]
Gov. Gary Johnson on Monday said it will take a grass-roots effort to legalize drugs in this country as he encouraged a group of high school students to vote once they are old enough. "You all do have an incredible power that you're about to inherit," Johnson told about 60 students at Santa Fe High School who met with him during a question-and-answer session. "I'm talking about being 18 and the right to vote," Johnson said. "That's how you make change in this country, by exercising that right to vote." [continues 375 words]
Albuquerque architect Bill Davis -- shot in the face last month by a 15-year-old fleeing an alleged drug-related burglary -- has just one question for Gov. Gary Johnson. "I want him to tell me how legalizing drugs would have prevented me from getting shot in the head," Davis, 51, said in a recent interview. "I would like the governor to face me eyeball to eyeball and tell me how he could even be contemplating legalizing drugs. I'm sitting here with a .45 slug in my head that I have to live with the rest of my life because of some hop-head." [continues 383 words]
Gov. Gary Johnson, under fire from fellow Republicans, on Friday agreed to tone down his push to legalize drugs, such as heroin and marijuana, his legislative liaison said. "What was conveyed is that he would tone it down going into the (legislative) session," said Dave Miller, Johnson's legislative liaison, after Johnson met with Senate Republicans on Friday. The next 30-day regular legislative session begins Jan. 18. Johnson still plans to take part in a drug policy forum at the University of New Mexico School of Law on Sunday, Miller said. U.S. Attorney John Kelly, who opposes drug legalization, also is scheduled to appear at that forum, which begins at 10:30 a.m. [continues 587 words]
Gov. Gary Johnson said Thursday he plans to name a new head for the Department of Public Safety before the next legislative session and that he is open to reorganizing the agency. On Wednesday, Johnson named State Police Chief Frank Taylor, 52, as acting Public Safety secretary to replace Darren White, 36, who had headed the agency since 1995. White resigned earlier this week, saying Johnson's support of legalizing drugs had made his job impossible. Taylor also opposes drug legalization but he said he had been reassured by Johnson that he did not expect his Public Safety chief to agree with him on the drug issue. [continues 399 words]
Gov. Gary Johnson may have agreed to temper his push to legalize drugs at least through the upcoming legislative session, but on Sunday he urged others to take up the cause. At a drug forum at the University of New Mexico School of Law in Albuquerque, Johnson told an enthusiastic crowd of about 200 people to call their legislators and tell them the drug issue is important. "Tell your legislator that you do believe that the discussion is worthwhile and, if you believe it, that there are valid points raised to legalization being a valid alternative," said Johnson, who contends the war on drugs has been a miserable failure. [continues 638 words]
Former state Public Safety chief Darren White said Wednesday his relationship with Gov. Gary Johnson started deteriorating after he said the governor's advocacy of drug legalization was demoralizing police throughout the state. White, a Johnson Cabinet member for five years, resigned Tuesday over differences with Johnson's drug-policy positions. Johnson appointed State Police Chief Frank Taylor as acting secretary of the Public Safety Department. Johnson said through a spokesperson Wednesday that he was perplexed by White's abrupt resignation. "He doesn't understand the resignation," said Diane Kinderwater, Johnson's press secretary. "He did not ask him to resign. He's said you can disagree with me, just understand my position -- know it and understand it." [continues 741 words]
Gov. Gary Johnson said Monday he favors tougher penalties for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs -- although he offered no specific plan or proposed legislation. "Stiffening penalties for drinking while driving, driving while under the impairment of any substance, I'm all for," Johnson said. "Drinking and driving is just not acceptable behavior." Johnson made his comments outside the state Capitol as he helped the Santa Fe chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving kick off its annual red-ribbon safety campaign for the holidays. [continues 320 words]
Gov. Gary Johnson said Tuesday he believes fewer people would abuse alcohol or tobacco if marijuana were legalized. "Marijuana would be a safer alternative to alcohol or tobacco," Johnson said during a nearly three-hour forum on the nation's drug policies at the Albuquerque Crowne Plaza Pyramid Hotel. "I'm saying that without the benefit of medical research, but I do believe that would be borne out." About 200 people attended the forum organized and paid for by the nonprofit New Mexico Drug Policy Foundation, headed by Albuquerque lawyer Steve Bunch. All of the panelists spoke against the nation's drug policies. [continues 275 words]
Gov. Gary Johnson on Wednesday asked a group of about 75 middle school students from Santa Fe and Los Alamos how many of them could go out and get marijuana. About a third of the students raised their hands. Johnson then asked the students how many of them could obtain legal prescription drugs without a prescription. Not a single hand went up. "That's my point," said Johnson, who has received national attention for advocating the legalization of drugs such as heroin and marijuana. [continues 540 words]
Carlsbad mortgage banker Joan Peeper thought Republican Gov. Gary Johnson had gone off the deep end on the subject of drugs -- until she heard him speak on the issue Friday. "I thought you were nuts until I listened to you," Peeper told Johnson after a speech in Albuquerque. Peeper said in an interview she thought Johnson made sense in calling for a re-examination of the nation's drug policies and in suggesting that drug legalization be considered. "It's worth examining," said Peeper, who works at Carlsbad National Bank. "We haven't made progress (in the drug war), and we need a new approach." Johnson spoke Friday to about 85 members of the New Mexico Mortgage Bankers Association and New Mexico Mortgage Brokers Association at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. [continues 624 words]
SANTA FE -- A northern New Mexico drug-abuse prevention group is criticizing Gov. Gary Johnson for his much-publicized challenging of drug laws, saying he's sending youths a misleading message. Johnson appears to be telling young people that "it's OK to do drugs," representatives of Hands Across Cultures said at the Capitol on Tuesday. In calling for a national debate on drug policy, Johnson has emphasized that he was not advocating drug use and has called drug use "a bad choice." [continues 633 words]
SANTA FE -- Gov. Gary Johnson says he has questioned jailing people for drug use since he was a senior at Albuquerque's Sandia High School almost 30 years ago. The 46-year-old Republican remembers a police officer coming to his school to talk to students about drugs. The officer lit a marijuana cigarette, Johnson said, and told the class: "This is what pot smells like. Smoke it, and we're going to put you in jail." Johnson, who has been in the national spotlight recently for challenging national drug law policies, said he raised his hand and questioned the officer: "Sir, are you going to put 25 million regular pot-smoking Americans in jail? It's not going to work." [continues 2035 words]
SANTA FE An expert on drugs and addiction and former Cabinet secretary under President Carter agreed with Gov. Gary Johnson on Tuesday that the nation needs to talk about its drug policies. But Joseph Califano Jr. took issue with some of the statements Johnson made about the war on drugs during an appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America" television show. Johnson also appeared on NBC's "Today" show. Johnson, a Republican, has received national media attention in the past week in the wake of Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush's refusal to answer questions about whether he ever used cocaine. The Texas governor has said only that he has not used drugs since 1974, when he was 28. By contrast, the 46-year-old Johnson acknowledged in 1994 during his first campaign for governor that he experimented with marijuana and cocaine while attending the University of New Mexico in the 1970s. The news was "a nonevent" in 1994 and during his re-election campaign last year, Johnson said. [continues 480 words]
SANTA FE -- Republican Gov. Gary Johnson has said he wants to provoke a national debate on rethinking the nation's drug policies. In October, he will get a chance to do so. Johnson has agreed to headline a daylong national conference titled "Beyond Prohibition: An Adult Approach to Drug Policies in the 21st Century" in Washington, D.C., his office confirmed Wednesday. The Oct. 5 conference, which will be broadcast live over the Internet, is being sponsored by the Libertarian-leaning Cato Institute, which has advocated legalizing drugs since its founding in 1977. [continues 657 words]
Johnson: N.M. Shouldn't Move Alone on Policy SANTA FE -- Gov. Gary Johnson is unfazed by sharp criticism from fellow Republicans and law officials of his call for a public dialogue on the nation's drug policies. But Johnson said he agrees with some Republicans that New Mexico cannot, on its own, consider decriminalizing or legalizing drugs because the state would risk becoming a haven for addicts. "I would agree with that," Johnson said in an interview. "We are talking about federal law, and I see this as a national issue." [continues 501 words]
Legalization Discussion Splits State Lawmakers SANTA FE -- Gov. Gary Johnson's call for public debate on drug policy, including decriminalization of drug use, was applauded Friday by some key Democratic legislators but rejected outright by Republicans. "I'm not interested in discussing that issue," said Senate Minority Leader L. Skip Vernon, R-Albuquerque, at a meeting of the Legislature's interim Courts, Corrections and Criminal Justice Committee. "The governor's had some great ideas. He's had some bad ideas, and this, frankly, is the worst one I've seen," Vernon said. [continues 629 words]
Posted (and now corrected) at: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n670.a06.html had an out of date contact email address at aol.com The correct email address is above. Email addresses for publications do change. If anyone notices that we have supplied a bad contact address please let us know so that we can update our database at: http://www.mapinc.org/resource/email.htm Thank you! Richard Lake rlake@mapinc.org [end]
Gov. Gary Johnson, never one to shy from controversy, wants the nation's drug problems and, possibly decriminalizing drug use, to be on the front burner of public debate. "It needs to get talked about, and one of the things that's going to get talked about is decriminalization," Johnson said in an interview Wednesday. "We really need to put all options on the table." Johnson was not specific about which drugs he would consider for decriminalization or legalizing. But his suggestion drew immediate criticism from New Mexico congressional members and law enforcement officials. [continues 703 words]
