The first attempt to pass a comprehensive drug reform package at
the state level ended last weekend with mixed results. Caught in
the press of last-minute business at the state capitol, the most
far-reaching elements of the Republican governor's reform package
were not defeated but timed out.
In the frenetic last days of the session, drug reform took a back
seat to issues such as education reform (done), electric power
deregulation (wait five years), and battles over whether New
Mexicans should be allowed to carry concealed weapons (they will)
or face tougher penalties for drunk driving (they won't).
Gov. Gary Johnson and legislative supporters succeeded in passing
four bills, three from his package and one other that will affect
thousands of state drug offenders. That bill restores voting
rights to felons who have completed their sentences. Asset
forfeiture reform and medical marijuana bills passed both houses,
but died for lack of time to reconcile minor differences.
David Goldstein of the Lindesmith Center/Drug Policy Foundation's
New Mexico office was upbeat despite the mixed results. The
session was "absolutely a victory," he told DRCNet. "A year ago,
the legislature said it wouldn't even discuss drug reform. This
year, drug reform has been a significant theme, and we did get
some legislation passed into law."
TLC-DPF was the primary sponsor of the legislative push. The
organization hired a pair of well-connected New Mexico
politicians as lobbyists in addition to opening the New Mexico
office to support the reform effort.
In a news conference after the session ended, Gov. Johnson also
emphasized the positive.
"Arguably, what happened during this session advanced a set of
bills that have never gone this far in any legislature in the
country," he said. "So on one hand, gosh, I wish a few more of
them would have been heard or voted on and passed. On the other
hand, as far as they went, they went a long way."
The three bills that passed both houses and will be signed by
Gov. Johnson are:
* Creation of Women's Reentry Drug Court (SB 200), which provides
for the early release of women convicted of nonviolent drug
offenses into a court-administered treatment program. Women
serving the last 18 months of their sentences could opt for
treatment in the drug court program instead of continued
incarceration.
* Pharmacy Syringe Sales (SB 320 & HB 812), which removes the
potential for criminal liability for pharmacists who sell
syringes to possible drug users. The bill gives pharmacists
protection similar to that given to people who distribute clean
syringes under the state's 1997 Harm Reduction Act.
* Anti-Opioid Administration Liability Limits (SB 318, HB 813),
which creates civil and criminal immunity for persons who use,
possess, distribute, or administer opioid anatagonists. Such
drugs counteract the effects of opiates and are used to treat
overdoses.
A fourth bill, not part of Johnson's package but of interest to
drug reformers, also passed:
* Restoration of Felony Voting Rights (SB 204), which restores
the right to vote to felons once their sentences have been
completed.
(Visit http://governor.state.nm.us/drug_policy for
more detailed information on the bills as well as Gov. Johnson's broader drug
reform agenda.)
But the most ambitious provisions of Johnson's package --
sentencing and asset forfeiture reforms, medical marijuana and
marijuana decriminalization -- all failed to make it through the
legislative process.
Medical marijuana came closest, with slightly differing bills
having passed both houses. But as the clock ticked down, medipot
supporters were unable to press the lawmakers to schedule a
Senate vote on the House bill. (The Senate had passed a bill
with a comfortable 29-12 margin, compared to a much narrower
margin of victory in the House.)
"That medical marijuana passed both houses, but died because they
couldn't get around to reconciling the minor differences, is a
major disappointment for us," said Richard Schmitz of the
Marijuana Policy Project (http://www.mpp.org). "It was the one
bill that came closest to passing, but we think it fell prey to
active efforts by the opposition to keep it off the agenda on
Saturday [the session's final day]," he told DRCNet.
As for marijuana decriminalization -- the governor's bill would
have made possession of seven ounces or less a civil violation
subject only to a fine -- "We would have liked to have seen
decrim, but it became apparent that the bill's chances of gaining
approval weren't that great," Schmitz told DRCNet. Still, said
Schmitz, "Not once did those marijuana bills lose a vote, in
committee or on the floor. We see that as very promising."
Keith Stroup, head of the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws (http://www.norml.org), who worked with Gov.
Johnson to push through the reforms, told DRCNet the package may
have fallen victim to partisan conflicts not directly related to
drug policy. Both houses of the state legislature are controlled
by Democrats, while Gov. Johnson is a Republican.
"The Democratic leadership apparently made the decision not to
bring it up," said Stroup. "Especially on the medical marijuana
bill, there were partisan currents that had little to do with the
debate. There are frequently issues between the Democrats and
the governor, and sometimes it's payback time. I suspect that
was the case this time."
The governor's sentencing reforms, which would have marked a
sharp retreat from the drug war's emphasis on incarceration, made
even less progress in the legislature.
Surveying the messy results at session's end, NORML's Stroup said
he was "disappointed," but saw no reason for reformers to
despair.
"People have to understand that it's easy to kill a bill,
difficult to pass one, and somebody threw a monkey wrench in the
works this time," Stroup argued. "Yes, it's a disappointment,
but it's also a good first step. The second time around, we can
win."
"The governor deserves enormous credit," Stroup continued. "He
pushed the drug reform package more strongly than any governor
ever has. I think because of Johnson's efforts, it was clear
that the whole debate had an enormously more positive tenor than
it did two years ago. He has used his office to good advantage
in educating voters about drug issues."
But Stroup also acknowledged that the drug reform movement is
still saddled by its origins in the counterculture of the 1960s.
"Look, we had popular support and the governor behind us, and we
still couldn't win. There's a lot of ignorance and
misinformation to overcome, and face it, marijuana still carries
with it associations of antiwar demonstrations and long-haired
hippies. Some of those folks in the legislature were using that
issue to fight a larger cultural battle. When you mention
marijuana to people like that, it's like waving a red flag in
front of a bull."
Indeed, the unsuited and somewhat scruffy appearance of some New
Mexico activists became a topic of discussion among reformers,
exposing tactical fault lines within the movement.
For Lindesmith-DPF's Goldstein, the task is not exposing
divisions but establishing a lasting presence in the state.
"We're here for the long haul," he told DRCNet. "We're going to
be dealing with the bills that were passed, and we'll be forming
a New Mexico coalition for a sensible drug policy. And don't
forget our national conference; it'll be here in Albuquerque in
May."
And, Goldstein added, there are still two more legislative
sessions possible during Gov. Johnson's remaining tenure. If
Johnson and the legislature cannot resolve pending budget
disputes, he could call a special session in September. While
Goldstein said addressing unfinished drug reform business at that
session was "not likely," at his Saturday press conference Gov.
Johnson said he might ask lawmakers to reconsider the medical
marijuana bill.
Goldstein also pointed out that in next year's short legislative
session, devoted primarily to budget matters, the governor can
introduce bills not related to the budget. The governor has
given no indication of any plans to reintroduce his remaining
drug reform bills then.
DRCNet Interview: Dave Miller, Legislative Liaison for New
Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson
With the New Mexico legislative session now over and drug
reformers having had mixed success, DRCNet sought out the
governor's point-man in the legislature, Dave Miller, for an
insider's assessment of what went right, what went wrong, and
where we go from here. Miller spoke by phone from his office in
Santa Fe.
Week Online (WOL): You got three out of eight bills in the drug reform
package through the legislature, but not the most substantive
reforms. What is your take on the outcome?
Dave Miller: Legislatively, we've moved the needle from ground
zero a year ago, when the legislature basically told us to go
away and die. We've been in this fight all of two years now, and
we've developed a legislative reform package, we've seen it
heavily debated, it's been covered extensively by the media, and
we've see significant action taken by the legislature. The
bottom line, of course, is that only a handful of bills actually
passed, but three others were very close -- poised for final
action -- and two more were moving through the committees. As
legislative liaison, I'm very pleased that we got progress on all
parts of the package.
WOL: Clearly, disagreements on drug policy were not the only
reason the entire package did not pass. Could you comment on the
role played by partisan conflict and the fact that the session is
so short?
Miller: Certainly there is a logistical problem when you have to
deal with 2,000 bills, 480 of which passed, in a 60-day session.
And, of course, drug policy wasn't the only big issue on the
legislative agenda. We also dealt with education reform,
concealed weapons, lots of other issues. As for Democrat versus
Republican, well, it gets funny. We got support from a handful
of Democrats who showed real courage -- Roman Maes, Patsy
Trujillo, and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Ken Martinez --
while at the same time we were unable to in any way tap into the
Republican Party's libertarian wing.
WOL: You did get support from the state party chairman, John
Dendahl.
Miller: And look what happened then. When Dendahl stepped up,
our senior US senator [Domenici] went through the roof; he
demanded Dendahl step down. Other prominent Republicans are also
calling for his head. There is a great concern among the state
GOP, not about what's right and what's wrong, but these issues
drive them crazy. What is going on out there that would bring
them out to attack like that?
WOL: Do you have an answer to that question?
Miller: I think it's the politics of marijuana and also of hard
drugs. According to our best numbers, in this state 112,000
people out of 1.8 million smoke marijuana regularly -- on a
monthly basis, anyway. But I'd be curious to see how many
legislators had tried it, not many, I think. Marijuana is an
alien thing for a lot of them. There is still a generational
dividing line. And this is a rural state. The guys with the
cowboy hats aren't too wild about smoking marijuana. The
governor has literally left lawmakers speechless when he talks
about legalizing drugs. It's like they're in shock.
I work with these guys on a hundred other issues, and it's rare
to see them seize up like that; the whole idea just makes them
supremely uncomfortable. So it was difficult to get sponsors, to
get movement; they can't handle that whole illicit drugs issue.
Even medical marijuana, with strong support, only passed the
House by two votes.
WOL: What lessons do you take from your experience this year?
Miller: Last summer, I began to grow concerned about emphasizing
the drug stuff. Steven Bunch of the New Mexico Drug Policy
Foundation was always nagging me to talk instead about saving
money, protecting children, things like that, and I'm
increasingly a believer in that. Look, I think we did a lot of
things right, things that could be applied in other states. The
blue ribbon panel on drug reform was very valuable. We had six
one-day meetings, funded by Lindesmith, and for ten or fifteen
people to be able to set aside a few days to come up with
specific recommendations and strategies was invaluable for the
governor and the legislature. That really helps set the stage.
The lobbyists, the hired guns, were also of enormous value. The
guys in the suits in the halls of power. It's that whole nuts
and bolts approach, hand-to-hand, committee-to-committee combat.
Somebody has to be working this process all day, every day for 60
days straight. The lobbyists are affordable and they are worth
it.
Then there is the high value of personal leadership, not only by
governor, but also those folks I mentioned earlier. There have
got to be politicians who show real courage and take up the
cause.
WOL: You mentioned New Mexico as a model. Can you elaborate?
Miller: Especially for rural Western states. What we did here
can be exported. A modest amount of money can make a big
difference. And if Congress and the White House are resistant to
change, the encouragement that the reform community can take is
that change is possible at the statehouse level.
WOL: How is this going to shake out in the medium- or long-term?
Miller: Having worked with legislators for eighteen years, I
think getting a package like ours through substantially intact
will require two or three trips to the well, at least, just to
get traction on the core issues, and then many years of much
heavier lifting, moving budgets from the criminal justice side to
the public health side. Where the money goes is where the action
will be, moving it from Corrections to Health, from Public Safety
-- the police -- to Children, Youth, and Family. All that will
occur in finance committees with performance-based budgeting.
It'll be a five- to ten-year battle.
WOL: And what about the governor's remaining year in office?
Miller: We'll sit down and meet with the folks from Lindesmith
soon, do a post-mortem and see what to do next. But without
question, Gov. Johnson will pursue this issue to the final day of
his administration. There are two possibilities for legislative
action. That includes a possible special session on
redistricting, which would be in September. The next regular
session -- it's called a "short session" because it's only 30
days long -- is usually devoted to budget, appropriations, and
revenue matters, but it is also known as the "governors session,"
because constitutionally he can introduce any bill he wants. He
does have enormous clout as to what goes on the agenda. The
governor hasn't announced anything yet, but I have to believe
that the fight will go on.
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