PROTECT NEW MEXICO

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:       

January 7, 2002 
Contact: Darren White
(505) 804-0084

New anti-drug group says shooting heroin,
snorting cocaine, and smoking pot is not
the solution to New Mexico's drug problems.

(Albuquerque) — Protect New Mexico is a new anti-drug organization made up of bi-partisan New Mexicans dedicated to promoting sound policies to combat the destruction caused by illegal drugs. Protect New Mexico was created to provide lawmakers and the public with relevant and factual information regarding the drug problems facing our state. We believe the only way to reduce the demand of dangerous drugs is through a balanced approach of treatment, prevention, and enforcement. Protect New Mexico's Executive Director, former Department of Public Safety Secretary Darren White says, "We must make more treatment funds available and expand the use of drug courts. We need to be investing to make New Mexico a safer and healthier state, not one that watches the number of drug users soar."

As for the solution being offered by the drug reformers, White says, "we do not believe a fifty dollar fine or legalization will provide any disincentive for a heroin or cocaine user to give up their addiction. Moreover, it will cause the number of drug users to soar, and will encourage our children to experiment with these dangerous drugs, which will expose them to a lifetime of dependency."

Our efforts to reduce the demand of the two legal drugs in America have not been successful. More than 60 million people are nicotine addicts and as many as 20 million are alcoholics. Just think of the destruction of our neighborhoods if heroin and crack cocaine were as easy to pick up as a pack of cigarettes or a six pack of beer.

Protect New Mexico is urging lawmakers not to give in to the East Coast billionaire who is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to make our state a safe haven for drug users. These outsiders are using ambiguous ads, cleverly crafted polls, and misleading terminology like "harm reduction" to hide their fundamental goal—drug legalization.

Protect New Mexico believes easing our drug laws will also affect New Mexico's ability to attract new businesses. White says, "When it comes to national rankings for quality of life, New Mexico is already on the wrong side of too many undesirable categories. We cannot afford to add 'drug haven' to the list."

Paid for by Protect New Mexico· Frank D. Gorham III, Treasurer

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