[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 135 (Thursday, October 7, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H9518]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          GOVERNOR OF NEW MEXICO'S CALL FOR DRUG LEGALIZATION

  (Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GILMAN. Madam Speaker, the Governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson, 
has been calling for the legalization of mind-altering drugs. His 
rationale for throwing in the towel is his mistaken belief that we are 
losing the war on drugs.
  Regrettably, under the Clinton administration, there has not been a 
balanced supply-and-demand-side fight against drugs. In fact, the war 
on drugs never truly began at its source in places like Colombia, since 
all of it was concentrated on treating the wounded here at home.
  During the Reagan and Bush era, when we fought this battle against 
drugs on both the supply side and demand side simultaneously, we made 
real progress. Between 1985 and 1992, we reduced monthly cocaine use by 
nearly 80 percent. That is real progress.
  In the city of Baltimore, we have learned firsthand the disastrous 
impact of a de facto legalization program and the lax attitude as has 
been proposed by Governor Johnson. The number of heroin addicts 
increased dramatically during a long laissez-faire period while 
population declined. Today, one in 17 citizens of Baltimore are heroin 
addicts. No one would agree that is any solution to the drug use 
problem. That is what Governor Johnson's legalization plan would bring 
to our Nation.
  I urge the Governor to reconsider his stand.

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