Jason Cunningham / Entertainment Editor

The president of Efficacy, a non profit organization focused on drug law reform, Clifford Thornton, spoke at the Connecticut Room last Thursday to examine what he believed was the real cost of the war on drugs and possible solutions.

Thornton, a retired management executive of the Southern New England Telephone company, has focused exclusively on drug policy issues since 1997.

As Senate Bill 349 is being debated state-wide, many people have taken a stance of support or opposition to the controversial Marijuana decriminalization act.

Thornton however, expressed he wants to see more done in the Nutmeg State, claiming that decriminalization just isn’t enough. 

After a brief documentary produced by the Open Society Institute, which stated that the war on drugs is directly responsible for significantly spreading HIV and Hepatitis C, Thornton explained that he believes every drug should either be legalized, made legal for medical purposes, or studied further in the case of more recent, unexplored drugs.  

Legalization, Thornton said, would make marijuana completely legal, much like alcohol and cigarettes, to be bought in stores by people of age.

Allowing drugs to be used for medical purposes, he believes, would include heavier drugs like heroine and cocaine to be used under a doctor’s supervision, and drugs like ecstasy would be left for further exploration by the medical community.

All of these drugs, he said, would generate an unbelievable amount of income for our economy, and in the case of hemp, revolutionize the paper, clothing and food industry.

He contemplated his message to Connecticut’s Governor M. Jodi Rell. 

“Well, I would say to Jodi Rell this: basically you pass yourself off as a conservative republican… What legalization is, is a highly conservative policy, in that, it seeks to limit the access to our children and tax a substance that’s not being taxed,” Thornton said.

“How much more conservative can you get? What we have in place and what she supports, is a very liberal policy, because you have to admit, anyone who wants these drugs, can get them.” 

Thornton, who ran for governor of Connecticut in 2006 as the state’s first Green Party and African American candidate, said he’d give the position another go if someone could come up with the $3 million necessary for spending during the run. 

During a lengthy question and answer session with Thornton, he discussed the power of the people, saying that many don’t understand their power as a voters and their potential to generate political change.