{news} More Missouri coverage of Thornton

[David Bedell]

http://columbiamissourian.com/news/story.php?ID=18676

Sunday, March 5, 2006
Columbia Missourian

Conference takes on the drug war

By AMBER MURPHY

March 3, 2006

When Cliff Thornton takes the stage, he tends to talk about race and class 
biases associated with the war on drugs.

The Green Party candidate for governor in Connecticut will give the keynote 
address this evening at the Midwest Drug Policy Conference in the Arts and 
Sciences Building on the MU campus.

“Cliff’s focus is on issues that relate specifically to minority and poor 
people who are often victims in the war on drugs,” said Dan Viets, state 
coordinator for the National Organization of the Reform of Marijuana Laws. 
“Those groups are often disproportionately impacted by drug laws.”

Thornton, who also serves on the marijuana group’s board of directors, is 
one of several speakers who will be advocating for more lenient drug laws. 
Other speakers at the conference, sponsored by the MU chapters of the 
marijuana organization and Students for Sensible Drug Policy, include 
medical marijuana patients, lawyers and activists. Both sponsoring 
organizations support the decriminalization of minor marijuana offenses and 
helped promote successful ballot initiatives in Columbia that deferred 
prosecution and limited the fine for possession of 35 grams or less of 
marijuana to $250.

Also the founder and director of an organization called Efficacy, which 
works to find peaceful ways to respond to social problems, Thornton believes 
education is the most important step in reforming drug laws.

“People need to know that the drug war is made only to be waged, not won,” 
he said.

Thornton said he also focuses on the drug war because it can be connected to 
crime and other social problems.

He favors the outright legalization of marijuana and the decriminalization 
of all drugs including heroin, methamphetamines, cocaine and ecstasy.

“The drug war is based on three phenomenon: greed, racism and fear,” he 
said.

Because he has spoken of these issues in more than 450 venues across the 
world, Amber Langston, former president of the student policy group, said 
Thornton brings experience. “He also takes things much more from a 
sociological perspective than most of our other speakers,” she said.

Saturday’s closing address will be given by Ed Rosenthal, author of more 
than 30 books relating to issues concerning marijuana, including medical use 
and criminal law.

“Ed has a unique background as an activist being in Oakland, California, 
which is considered the epicenter of medical marijuana,” Viets said.

Rosenthal said he plans on discussing the relationship between marijuana and 
society and the criminal justice system.

The war on drugs is important because America cannot afford to waste the $30 
billion they spend on prohibition costs, he said.

Approval of the Columbia marijuana ballot issues in November 2004 helped 
attract both Thornton and Rosenthal to the conference, they said.

“I hope the conference brings together a lot of different perspectives and 
people,” said Langston. “Issues related to the drug war and how we can 
approach policy differently need to be brought to public light.”

Copyright © 2006 Columbia Missourian