------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-~> We give away $70,000 a month! Come to iWin.com for your chance to win! http://us.click.yahoo.com/olMXHC/BJVCAA/4ihDAA/K4NVlB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------_-> March 31, 2001 Tell Your Local Media Critic! **** A Narco News Media Alert **** http://www.narconews.com/ **** New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, newly emboldened in his critique of US drug policy with the support of neighboring Governor Patricio Martinez in Chihuahua, Mexico, took to the airwaves this week and deflated Mike Barnicle on his own program **** Border Governor Agreement on Drug Legalization Hits National TV Johnson Deflates Blowhard Mike Barnicle in MSNBC Debate - Barnicle Hides Behind his 7 Kids to Oppose Drug Policy Reform - Gov. Gary Johnson: ``You're burying your head in the sand if you don't know that statistically four out of your seven kids are gonna do illegal drugs.'' - Barnicle: ``No! No! None of my kids are gonna do illegal drugs!'' - Johnson: ``And really, Mike, aren't you most afraid of them doing illegal drugs because of the prohibition against drugs and it will go on their record and they might end up in prison and all of that?'' (link may require recomposition if email breaks link into two lines) http://www.sfnewmexican.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=1599446&BRD=2144&PAG=461&dept_id=367954&rfi=6 Governor keeps up drug-reform crusade By STEVE TERRELL/The New Mexican March 29, 2001 Despite the fact that the state Legislature didn't pass most of Gov. Gary Johnson's drug-law reform package, Johnson on Wednesday continued his fight for liberalizing drug laws. The governor's office announced that Johnson had filed a ``friend of the court'' brief in the United States vs. Oakland Cannabis Buyer's Cooperative case before the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing for the legal use of marijuana to treat certain medical conditions. Johnson also appeared Wednesday on yet another national television show to talk about drug laws. This time he was questioned by TV interviewer Mike Barnicle on the MSNBC cable network in a spirited segment in which both the governor and Barnicle raised their voices. Barnicle told viewers that he was leery about liberalizing drug laws because he has seven kids. Replied Johnson, ``You're burying your head in the sand if you don't know that statistically four out of your seven kids are gonna do illegal drugs.'' Barnicle loudly denied that. ``No! No! None of my kids are gonna do illegal drugs!'' Then Johnson asked, ``And really, Mike, aren't you most afraid of them doing illegal drugs because of the prohibition against drugs and it will go on their record and they might end up in prison and all of that?'' Barnicle said that wasn't true. At one point during the interview, Johnson put his thumb to his nose with his fingers splayed to demonstrate the attitude of many young people toward drug laws in general. After the interview, in which the governor participated by remote from the state Capitol, Johnson told local reporters, ``He really is sticking his head in the sand if he doesn't think most his kids will try drugs.'' In the brief filed with the Supreme Court - which heard arguments Wednesday in the medical-marijuana case - Johnson argued that marijuana is a states' rights issue. Friend-of-the-court briefs are filed by persons not directly involved in a case, but who are interested in its outcome. The Oakland Cannabis Buyer's Cooperative was sued by the U.S. Department of Justice to try to stop the cooperative from distributing medical marijuana. Part of the legislative package the Johnson introduced in the recently completed session of the state Legislature called for establishing a program in the state Health Department to allow patients to use marijuana when recommended by their doctor. During hearings on the bills, some legislators pointed to the court appeal and said they were reluctant to pass a medical-marijuana bill in New Mexico before the high court renders a decision in the case. Each house of the Legislature passed its own medical-marijuana bill. However, neither bill was passed by both houses and, therefore, died. Johnson told reporters that he was excited that Patricio Martínez, governor of the Mexican state of Chihuahua, in a recent newspaper interview came out in favor of legalizing marijuana. In the interview, published in the Mexican newspaper El Universal, Martínez mentioned Johnson as an example of an American voice saying that the so-called War on Drugs has been lost. Johnson said he spoke with Martínez just days before the Mexican governor was shot in the neck in December. Their conversation came about a week after Mexican President Vicente Fox said he favored liberalizing drug laws. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
