Pubdate: Wed, 25 Jan 2006
Source: Daily Campus, The (UConn, CT Edu)
Copyright: 2006 The Daily Campus
Contact:  http://www.dailycampus.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2778
Author: Steven Durel

A GREENER SIDE OF POLITICS

I staggered into Denny's on the warm Friday morning of Jan. 20 
choking on Silas Dean Highway's fumes and searching crowded booths 
for the man I had written to - Connecticut's Green Party 
gubernatorial candidate Cliff Thornton. The big guy was at a window 
in the corner perusing some documents. Among stock traders and truck 
drivers we discussed politics and narcotics over pancakes.

DC: Why are you running for Governor of Connecticut, and why as a Green?

CT: If one does not understand racism, classism, white privilege, 
terrorism and the War on Drugs - what these terms mean, how these 
concepts work - then everything else you do understand will only 
confuse you. I feel that the War on Drugs is at the center of most 
problems and is two degrees from everything in our society. No 
candidates talk about it, except for being "tough on crime" and 
that's it. The Green Party has been asking me to run for years, so I 
thought that this was a prime opportunity to expose the problem.

I am running to be a voice for people who want change. I'm interested 
in attracting the tens of thousands who have dropped out and aren't 
even registered to vote. I want to leave an impression. The Green 
Party has stated it is looking to get 1 percent of the vote, but I am 
interested in getting 5 percent to 10 percent. I think that's 
possible, but it'll be very important to energize students at the 
major universities, people who are going to have a very hard time 
finding employment in this state soon.

DC: You've called for Connecticut to follow Rhode Island in 
permitting medicinal marijuana. What are your opinions on other 
drugs, and what inspired your conclusions?

CT: It's been a long journey, one that began two weeks before I was 
to graduate high school when there was a knock at the door and my 
grandmother told me to accompany a police detective to a field of 
abandoned cars. In one of those cars was the body of a naked woman - 
my mother - who had died from an apparent heroin overdose. There are 
no thoughts to describe how I felt after that, except that all 
illegal drugs should be eradicated from the face of the earth.

Yet, as I watched my native Hartford going downhill decade after 
decade, I began to question what authorities were doing. Eventually I 
met these two surgeons at Hartford Hospital in the late 1970s/early 
1980s and told them about my mother. They said that they used heroin 
to steady their nerves for surgeries. Obviously surgery is 
complicated and, in order to stay steady, they used pharmaceutical 
heroin and didn't become addicted.

DC: There seems to be many contradictions in drug laws. Even though 
medical-marijuana is permitted in 11 states, the federal government 
still considers it illegal inside U.S. borders. Colorado is a 
medical-marijuana state, but their police have arrested Denver 
citizens even after a referendum made small quantities of pot 
permissible in that city.

CT: Right, Denver decriminalized it, which is different from 
medicalization and legalization. Most people use these terms 
interchangeably, but they mean different things. In Denver, if you 
possess more than a decriminalized amount, you're breaking the law. 
Medicalization means putting something under the control of doctors 
and legalization would be something like cigarettes or alcohol.

I advocate outright legalization of marijuana and hemp. I want to see 
marijuana, alcohol and cigarettes all being sold at a single place to 
limit children's access-the proper age being 18. I want to see 
heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and ecstasy medicalized. I want to 
see other illegal drugs decriminalized and debated publicly.

DC: I've read that you used to be a businessman.

CT: I worked with Southern New England Telephone for 20 years in 
middle management, in charge of internal telecommunications.

DC: How do you view the relationship between government and the marketplace?

CT: I believe in free trade. I believe all markets should be open, 
but there have to be restrictions to let the little guy compete. 
Major corporations can implement restrictions to cut out small 
competition and absorb profits. We have five corporations that 
basically own print media in this country, which causes pretty myopic 
news. Another example is the telephone companies where, after there 
was some divestiture, littler businesses had grown. Eventually, 
though, those with the largest coffers came to completely control the 
telecommunications industry. Our country once fought off monopolies 
and we need to do it again. In order to go back to that, there needs 
to be divestiture.

DC: So what is the underlying problem facing our society?

CT: We have been lulled to sleep. The authorities orchestrate fear 
campaigns, terrorize the populace and make people believe everything 
that they hear. You have to understand that the drug wars are built 
on three phenomena: greed, racism and fear. It's a perfectly volatile 
mixture and most people are just too busy working to contemplate or 
challenge it. We are given a simple equation - On one side we have 
drug dealers and cartels, on the other side we have the authorities - 
bureaucracies of law enforcement, courts and prisons. Supposedly both 
sides are diametrically opposed to each other, yet both are 
completely against what I advocate. What's wrong with that picture?

DC: Well, the paramount concept in political philosophy seems to be 
individual versus collective interests - liberal against 
conservative, libertarian against populist, capitalist against 
communist, anarchist against fascist. What are your thoughts on the 
principle dynamics of that relationship?

CT: Diversity is our strength. Out of all the groups, Democrats and 
Republicans are the ones in power. What we need is another voice 
because Democrats and Republicans espouse the same values and do not 
effectively address public concerns. They have become Republocrats 
like, in this state, Joe Lieberman. Having different political 
interests is a good thing, but when two factions remain securely in 
power it becomes a lot harder to get things done.

Elections only uphold fairness when individuals have the liberty to 
express authentic beliefs. When free choice is inhibited, the inner 
workings of government become corrupted and cancerous. Third parties 
are blamed for Bush's rise to power, despite him actually losing the 
2000 election and winning an entire majority in 2004. Independents 
will forever ignore denigration and continue supporting people like 
Ralph Nader, Michael Badnarik, Pat Buchanan and Ross Perot because 
they symbolize a third way in politics-ballots of rebellion cast 
against stagnant duopoly. For his part, Cliff Thornton isn't offering 
Connecticut a winning ticket, only a sincere rally for democracy and freedom. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake