Pubdate: Wed, 09 May 2001 Source: El Paso Times (TX) Copyright: 2001 El Paso Times Contact: http://www.elpasotimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/829 Author: Diana Washington Valdez, El Paso Times DEA WORKSHOP DEALS WITH MYTHS OF DRUG LEGALIZATION Photo by Victor Calzada / El Paso Times Christy Farrell, center, and Tommy Grado of Faith Christian Academy took notes during a presentation Tuesday by the Drug Enforcement Administration in West El Paso. DEA Special Agent David Monnette is at left. Advocates who favor legalizing drugs nearly "bought New Mexico" during the recent legislative session, state District Attorney Matthew Sandoval said Tuesday. "We have been targeted to become a state where drugs are legalized. The advocates for this spent lots of money and almost bought the state," said Sandoval of New Mexico, a guest speaker at a Drug Enforcement Administration workshop on the myths of drug legalization. New Mexico law-enforcement officials "spent the 60-day legislative session with our backs to the wall, and this is not going to stop," he said. Although legislation to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana failed, New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson says he continues to support the bill. During the workshop, DEA Special Agent David Monnette rebutted a couple of statements Johnson made previously in a debate with former U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey. Workshop participants saw video excerpts of the debate. Monnette also criticized what he said are misleading and misguided statements used by legalization advocates. One of the myths, he said, is the idea that legalizing drugs will reduce violent crime. Monnette said most inmates in U.S. jails today are serving time because they are repeat offenders of violent crimes -- homicide, robbery, assault, rape -- they committed under the influence of drugs. Sandoval said that contrary to Johnson's statement that thousands of New Mexicans are in prison due to drug use, "there are zero inmates." Most are in state prisons for other crimes, he said. DEA officials said the use of illicit drugs in the United States has dropped 50 percent since 1979, a clear sign that broad anti-drug efforts are working. Stefanie Fraire, 17, a Paso Del Norte Academy student, said Tuesday's workshop helped dispel some wrong information about drug legalization. Fraire, who takes part in the DEA Teens in Charge program, said she was glad "to know what our plan was for fighting illegal drug use." - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens