NADER ENDORSES GOVERNOR JOHNSON'S DRUG STRATEGY

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO Consumer advocate and Green Party presidential nominee
Ralph Nader endorsed a strategy of decriminalizing drugs combined with
education and treatment after a Friday breakfast meeting with Republican
Gov. Gary Johnson.

Johnson is a leading critic of the nation's "war on drugs" and a proponent
of marijuana legalization.

Nader said he supports legalizing marijuana and regulating the substance
like tobacco. He indicated support for methadone clinics, which treat
opiate addictions.

"The other drugs, that really takes more thinking cocaine and crack cocaine
because of the obvious reasons we all know," said Nader, speaking at a
Santa Fe news conference before traveling to Farmington. "But addiction, no
matter what kind of addiction, should not be criminalized, it's got to be
subjected to health programs and caring programs because they work."

Johnson in turn said he supported the inclusion of alternative party
candidates in this fall's presidential debates.

"I think the two major parties have a lot to learn from third parties,
fourth parties and fifth parties," Johnson said. "And so I absolutely
endorse open debates ..."

Nader, whose vice presidential running mate is Winona LaDuke, doesn't
currently qualify for the televised debates arranged by the Commission on
Presidential Debates. The commission requires 15 percent support in public
opinion polls to join the show.

Nader said he recently wrote to the four major television networks,
including CNN, challenging them to sponsor their own collective debates.

The New Mexico Green Party has a considerable stake in Nader's second run
for president on the Green ticket. By winning 5 percent of the New Mexico
vote, Nader would re-establish the Greens as major party, making it easier
for their candidates to get on future ballots.

The Greens gained major party status in New Mexico in 1994 when Roberto
Mondragon won 10 percent of the vote for governor.

Although the Green Party nominee, Nader said he isn't a party member
because he doesn't want to become involved in internal disputes about the
party platform.

Johnson thanked Nader for raising "a lot of really good points, and again,
one near and dear to my heart really is this failed war on drugs in this
country."

Johnson stopped short of endorsing Nader's campaign for president.

But, in trading compliments, Johnson called Nader an "American hero," and
Nader applauded Johnson's outspoken stance on drug legalization.