THORNTON CONTINUES TO CRITICIZE 'FAILURE' OF WAR ON DRUGS

OLD LYME -- Comparing the war in Iraq to the nation's 40-year-old War
on Drugs, former Green Party gubernatorial candidate Clifford
Thornton continued his efforts Monday to decriminalize illegal drugs.

"I'm not here promoting drug use," Thornton told the Southeastern
Connecticut Chapter of the League of Women Voters. "I'm here
promoting a sound, logical policy."

Thornton said the United States spends $2 billion a week at all
levels of government -- local, state and federal -- to battle drugs.
Yet the federal Drug Enforcement Agency admits capturing only 10
percent of the illegal drugs in the country each year, he said.

"Does it make sense that we spend $100 billion a year on a program
with a 90-percent failure rate?" Thornton asked the group.

League member Claire Sauer was in the audience at the chapter's
annual meeting at the Old Lyme Inn.

"I've heard him talk many times, and I've always been impressed with
just how much sense he makes," she said.

Thornton, a retired manager with the Southern New England Telephone
Co., has made his campaign for a change in the nation's drug policy a
lifelong commitment. He and his wife, Margaret, founded the nonprofit
group Efficacy, which focuses on social issues and, in particular,
the drug war.

Green Party candidate In 2006, the Green Party nominated Thornton as
its gubernatorial candidate and used this issue as the centerpiece of
his campaign platform.

"It's the most important social problem we're going to face in our
lifetime," he said. "The war on drugs is not intended to be won. It's
only intended on being waged. It's shattered families, devastated our
inner cities and wasted lives."

Thornton supports legalizing marijuana and its use for medicinal
purposes. He also supported medical uses for harder drugs like heroin
and cocaine and allowing doctors to determine their use. Thornton
also seeks decriminalization of all other illegal drugs.

"I agree with 99 percent of what he said," said league member Carol
Richards of Niantic, a retired state addiction services employee,
"but I thought he was just a bit cavalier with his references to
marijuana as a harmless drug."

Thornton cited a number of statistics suggesting the primary focus of
the drug war are blacks, Hispanics and poor whites. He said they
represent the largest percentages of prisoners serving time for drug
offenses -- yet more affluent whites use as much or more of the
drugs. Thornton contended his proposal to decriminalize illegal drugs
would allow more efforts to be made toward prevention and
rehabilitation and less time wasted in jails.

"You're going to get a payback when you educate children," he said.
"Imagine what $100 billion a year spent on education would mean.
You're not going to get a payback spending all that money on this."

Susan Clark-Levin of New London and Rita Rohrberg of Westbrook, both
of whom work as counselors at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital's
infectious disease department, came to the meeting to hear Thornton.
Clark-Levin said she had heard him speak at a seminar in Hartford and
found his opinions valuable.

"It's amazing the amount of money the country is spending and getting
nowhere," she said. "It's an illness, an addiction."