Pubdate: Fri, 23 Jun 2006
Source: Journal-Inquirer (CT)
Copyright: 2006 Journal-Inquirer
Contact:  http://www.journalinquirer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/220
Author: Tom Breen
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Cliff+Thornton (Cliff Thornton)

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.
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