Pubdate: Fri, 13 Jan 2012
Source: Litchfield County Times (CT)
Copyright: 2012 Litchfield County Times
Contact:  http://www.countytimes.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2900

RORABACK MEETS WITH STUDENTS AT GILBERT SCHOOL IN WINSTED

WINSTED--Republican State Sen. Andrew Roraback combined his roles as
the state senator from the 30th District and a candidate for
Republican nomination to run in Connecticut's Fifth District Thursday
in an appearance at the Gilbert School.

Meeting with social studies classes in the school library, the senator
gave the students an opportunity to question him about pressing issues
and to express their own opinions. In the process, the students and
legislator touched on such issues as last year's decriminalization of
marijuana and the discussion surrounding legalization of medical
marijuana use.

A student expressed the idea that legalizing marijuana would increase
the tax base, but Senator Roraback said he had reservations. He said
he has been on the legislature's Judiciary Committee for 18 years and
has listened to public hearings on the possible legalization of the
drug. He voted against decriminalizing marijuana--which was passed last
June and now makes possession of small amounts an infraction, like a
driving ticket--but has a harder time when it comes to its medical use.

"It is very difficult for me to look at terminally ill patients,
sitting there with their physicians, who tell me that marijuana is the
only thing that gives them relief from their pain and to say, 'I don't
care.,'" he said. "My position is to support medicinal marijuana when
a licensed physician says it is needed."

He voted against decriminalization of the drug, however, because he
does not believe "it is a healthy message for a state to send" to the
public.

Attention was focused on the subject of online gambling. A recent
ruling by the U.S. Department of Justice, made in response to
inquiries from New York and Illinois about the online sale of lottery
tickets, appears to open the door for legal, state-sanctioned online
gambling. The ruling dealt specifically with the lottery, but appears
to allow table games, too, such as online poker or blackjack.

But for Connecticut to get a piece of the Internet gaming pie, state
laws and court-ordered agreements must change. In Connecticut,
agreements struck in the 1990s give exclusive rights for table games
to the state's two Native American-owned casinos, providing the state
with a quarter of the revenue garnered from video slots and preventing
other entities from running for-profit casino operations. Based on
these agreements, it appears possible the casinos could open up
Internet poker without contributing any of the revenue to the state.

Senator Roraback told the students he does not favor the institution
of online gambling because it preys on people's weaknesses. He
conjured the image of someone sitting at home late at night, prey to a
gambling addiction, who then has the opportunity to pull out his
credit card and max it out to the detriment of his family.

"We think of everything in Hartford dollar-wise because this state is
in bad shape," he said in reference to a student's suggestion that it
would bring in more revenues for the state, "but the best way to
improve that is for all of you to stay here and be able to get good
jobs so you can pay lots of income tax. Online gambling and taxing
marijuana doesn't seem like the kind of society I want."

Asked about his feelings on the death penalty, he said he continues to
oppose it for moral reasons. "I recognize that the majority are
probably in favor of it," he said, "and I respect their opinion. But I
have never misled my constituents about how I feel."

He said he has met with Dr. William Petit, whose family was killed in
a horrific home invasion in Cheshire. The killers have now both been
sentenced to death and Mr. Roraback said, "If the death sentence could
bring back his family, I would be for it all day long." But, he added,
he has met with other people whose family members have been killed who
oppose the death penalty. He conceded it is not any easy position to
champion because "of the anger all of us feel."

Mr. Roraback told the young people that he is "an American before he
is a Republican" but that he is running for Congress because there is
currently no Republican legislator in Congress from Connecticut. "New
England Republicans are in very short supply in Washington," he said,
"and I believe a New England Republican has something constructive to
offer."

He added that he believes the best interests of the country "lie in
the middle."

He urged the students to register to vote. "Far be it from me to tell
you how to think or what to think," concluded, "but please think."
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D