I have this day SIGNED SENATE BILL 15, as amended, enacted by the Forty-Fourth Legislature, Second Special Session, 2000 but have VETOED the following item or items, part or parts:
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On page 4, I have vetoed all of lines 24 and 25. The effect of this veto is to eliminate the Legislature’s attempt to restrict state government officials from engaging in discussions regarding the legalization of certain controlled substances.
Such legislation is patently unconstitutional. Not only is it an illicit attempt to enact substantive law within an appropriation bill, but it also constitutes an impermissible infringement on freedom of speech as guaranteed by both the New Mexico and United States Constitutions.
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that government shall make no law abridging the right to free speech. Similarly, Article II, Section 17 of our Constitution protects this right. The Legislature’s attempt to quash free and open dialogue on the legalization of certain controlled substances as a possible solution to this state’s pervasive drug problem is the type of censorship readily and often condemned by the United States and the New Mexico Supreme Courts. I must act to protect the marketplace of ideas so that we may all freely trade our opinions regarding the solutions to the drug and crime ills that plague New Mexico’s citizens.
In addition to Constitutional problems, this language is struck because the magnitude of our state and national drug abuse problem and the abysmal failure of today’s drug strategies requires us to continue to explore alternative solutions. The wholesale failure of today’s “Drug War” calls for New Mexico policymakers, both the legislature and the governor, to fully explore and debate new drug strategies including legalization.
Today’s drug war strategies, based largely upon prohibition, incarceration and abstinence, are not only a failure but an expensive failure. To date, the federal government has spent over $160 billion to combat drugs while state and local governments have spent an additional $320 billion. Our war on drugs has many costs but few benefits.
In fact, we are losing the drug war. Drug prices have reached historic lows. High school students can get drugs more easily than ever. Drug use by junior high school kids has tripled. More than 400,000 Americans are in jail or prison on drug related charges, and several million addicts fail to get the treatment they need.
Despite the ideological posturing by many elected officials favoring drug war policies, the public strongly favors a more pragmatic approach based on treatment, prevention and education. Citizens want policies that save lives, keep drugs out of the hands of kids and treat those suffering from drug abuse or addiction. They want common sense, cost-effective approaches producing real results; not another decade of failed rhetoric
Throughout the remainder of my term in office, I will participate in the ongoing public debate about drug policy and will advocate for a comprehensive set of harm-reduction strategies that would eventually result in a new legal-regulatory drug policy framework. This “legalization model,” while not a panacea, is preferable to today’s drug war for reasons already stated. While advocating for drug policy reform and raising public awareness about the drug problem, I will continue my public education campaign to tell all New Mexicans that drugs are a bad choice.