{news} Gubernatorial candidates don't call for Fabrizi to resign

Fri Jun 23 12:31:05 EDT 2006

      <http://www.journalinquirer.com/> Friday, June 23, 2006  

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Gubernatorial candidates don't call for Fabrizi to resign 
By Tom Breen, Journal Inquirer
06/23/2006

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.

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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.

©Journal Inquirer 2006 

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