DRUG POLICY EMERGES AS ISSUE

Challenger, Incumbent Differ On Legalization

NEW MILFORD -- Nicholas
W. Payne, the Green Party candidate vying to unseat five-term
incumbent Rep. Clark J. Chapin, R-New Milford, believes the state
would save both dollars and lives by legalizing drugs.

Payne, 61, said the May 20, 2008, murder of his daughter, Rebecca, a
student at Northeastern University who was shot inside her Boston
apartment, inspired his run for office. Rebecca Payne's murder, which
attracted extensive media attention, remains unsolved. Payne said
police have told him they believe it was a case of mistaken identity,
and his daughter had no known connection to illegal drugs. Payne said
that while the circumstances may never be known, his daughter's murder
was all but certainly related to the drug trade.

"This election's all about money, jobs and taxes," Payne said. "In New
Milford you don't see violence on the streets ... It's the expense of
(fighting illegal drugs) I'm going after."

The state Department of Correction budget stands at $650.8 million
following deficit mitigation legislation for the 2010-11 fiscal year,
and the state currently incarcerates just under 18,500 prisoners,
according to Office of Policy and Management estimates. Payne believes
that legalizing marijuana and regulating its use in the same way that
alcohol is regulated, and decriminalizing all other drugs in favor of
mandatory treatment, would significantly reduce spending that now
totals about $35,178 per prisoner each year.