GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATES DON'T CALL FOR FABRIZI TO RESIGN

Should he stay or should he go?

Bridgeport Mayor John Fabrizi's tearful admission this week of past
cocaine use has raised questions not just about whether he should
remain in office, but about the overall conduct of the war on drugs.

None of the four people running for governor has called on Fabrizi to
resign, although New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr., seeking the
Democratic nomination, came close, saying he wouldn't tolerate the
same behavior in his police chief.

Only one candidate for governor -- Green Party nominee Clifford W.
Thornton Jr., a retired businessman living in Glastonbury -- said the
case shows a double standard that in turn suggests that drugs should
be treated as a health problem rather than a criminal justice issue.

The other two gubernatorial candidates -- Republican Gov. M. Jodi
Rell and Stamford Mayor Dannel P. Malloy, running against DeStefano
for the Democratic nomination -- expressed concern for Fabrizi's
well-being and said that greater efforts at drug rehabilitation should be made.

DeStefano said Thursday he has thought hard about the predicament of
his friend Fabrizi, since word of the Bridgeport mayor's past cocaine
use became public last Friday.

"John's a friend," DeStefano said. "I called him and wished him well
over the weekend, and wished his family well. But my police
department routinely arrests people for possession of cocaine."

DeStefano stopped short of calling on Fabrizi to resign, but said the
Bridgeport official should reflect on what his admitted behavior
means in light of the oath he took when he was sworn into office.

"If this were my police chief, I'd know what I would do, and that's
about as far as I'm going to go with that," DeStefano said. "John
needs to take some time and reflect on that."

Thornton, the Green Party's candidate for governor, is the founder of
Efficacy, a nonprofit organization that has concentrated on changing
drug policy.

In a statement Thursday, Thornton said the Fabrizi case shows a
double standard in how drug laws are applied.

"Powerful white politicians are held to one standard of behavior, and
poor, brown, and black people are prosecuted based on another
standard for this same behavior," he said.

Thornton, who is black, called on Fabrizi to use this opportunity to
urge a change in the focus of drug policy from law enforcement to
public health.

The Green Party candidate said the state should "medicalize" cocaine,
with doctors administering regular doses to addicts to ensure safe consumption.

However, state politicians can only shape drug policy to a limited
extent, according to Rich Harris, spokesman for Rell's campaign.

"It's primarily a federal matter in terms of criminalization," he
said. "In the unlikely event it wanted to, Connecticut tomorrow could
declare that all drugs are legal, but it wouldn't make a difference."

Harris said Rell has helped focus state policy on treatment and
rehabilitation for drug users, rather than simply incarceration,
citing the Building Bridges program as an initiative designed to help
convicted drug addicts not only recover, but find housing and work.

Rell also worked with the legislature to change a bill that would
alter the penalties for possession of crack cocaine. Since the
penalties for possession of crack cocaine are more severe than for
possession of more expensive powder cocaine, some legislators charged
the law fell disproportionately on poor users.

A bill sought to lower the penalties for crack, but Rell vetoed that,
and worked on a compromise that raised the penalties for possession
of powder cocaine, Harris said.

"She worked with the legislature and the advocates, and made a better
law," he said.

In a statement this week, Rell said she was saddened to hear of
Fabrizi's cocaine use.

"He deserves credit for acknowledging his problem, and his candor
with the public is much-needed. He must continue to be open and
forthcoming as he works to regain the trust of the citizens of
Bridgeport," she said.

Malloy, who won the Democratic Party's endorsement at its convention
last month, also expressed his concern for Fabrizi, and he praised
the Bridgeport mayor for being frank.

"While I'm disappointed to hear about these revelations, I'm glad to
know that John has acknowledged his problems and is addressing them,"
Malloy said.

Malloy opposes the legalization of drugs, said campaign consultant
Roy Occhiogrosso, but is open to considering the possibility of a
"tightly controlled" decriminalization of medical marijuana.

"The mayor believes the war on drugs has not been fought
intelligently," Occhiogrosso said.

In a speech this week before a supportive crowd of Bridgeport city
workers, Fabrizi admitted to using cocaine in the past, but said he
hadn't used it in 18 months.

The Democrat, formerly president of the Bridgeport City Council,
became mayor in the wake of the corruption scandal that sent his
predecessor, Joseph Ganim, to federal prison.