Pubdate: Mon, 04 Oct 1999 Source: Associated Press Copyright: 1999 Associated Press Author: Matt Kelley N.M. GOV. SPREADING DRUGS MESSAGE WASHINGTON -- Not only has the war on drugs been a multibillion-dollar failure, but it has unjustifiably thrown thousands of people in prison while lying about the dangers of marijuana, New Mexico's governor said Monday. Gov. Gary Johnson, a Republican, kicked off a visit to the nation's capital by meeting with leaders of a college student group that shares his goal of drug legalization. Johnson is the country's highest-ranking elected official to advocate legalizing such drugs as cocaine, heroin and marijuana. After swimming two miles and jogging five miles for his morning workout, then bounding up four flights of stairs to avoid a sluggish elevator at George Washington University, Johnson told the students that drugs are a bad choice, but people should be allowed to decide for themselves whether to make it. "I hate to say it, but the majority of people who use drugs use them responsibly," Johnson told members of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy. "They choose when to do it. They do them at home. It's not a financial burden." White House drug policy director Barry McCaffrey and other officials excoriated Johnson last week after he became the first governor to support drug legalization. "His pro-drug message runs in the face of all the hard work of millions of parents, teachers, health professionals, community leaders, coaches and clergy who are working so hard to stem drug use," McCaffrey said Friday. Johnson found a friendlier audience in the students. "Students are experts on drug use," said Kris Lotlikar, a leader of the group. "We're the children that this war was supposed to protect. But I have yet to talk to any student who came from a drug-free high school. To me, that's a failed policy." The students said they did not want to be labeled drug users just because they support legalization. "We aren't a group of dope-smoking hippies," said David Epstein, a member of the group from American University. As the students sipped bottled water, Johnson told them of his drug use as a young man and his decision years ago to forgo not only drugs but alcohol and even Coca-Cola in favor of training for triathlons. "I was somebody who smoked marijuana in college. I didn't experiment with marijuana, I smoked it," Johnson said. "I made a bad choice, but even then it wasn't a choice that I felt should have landed me in jail." Johnson said he supports legalization of drugs, but under strict control of sales and use and with significant taxation. Under a legalization scheme, Johnson said, drugs such as marijuana, heroin and cocaine should not be available to anyone under 21, public drug use should be banned and penalties should be increased for crimes such as driving under the influence. "There are going to be new problems under legalization," Johnson said. "But I submit to you they are going to be about half of what they are today under the prohibition model." Current drug policy focuses too heavily on imprisoning people while allowing illegal drug cartels to rake in billions of dollars, Johnson said. Current anti-drug education efforts such as the government's "this is your brain on drugs" television commercials amount to lies, he said. "You're brought up learning that drugs make you crazy," Johnson said. "Then you do marijuana for the first time, and it's not so bad. It's kind of cool. That's when kids find out it's been a lie." Darren White, who oversees New Mexico's state police as head of the Department of Public Safety, told the students he is unwilling to support drug legalization but agreed with Johnson that current anti-drug efforts are misguided. "We aren't winning the drug war. I can tell you because I'm fighting on the front lines every day," White said. "I call it a skirmish, because that's the kind of resources I'm getting to fight it. ... As a nation, we're not willing to give up the civil liberties necessary to win the drug war." - --- MAP posted-by: Thunder