A Politician in Vermont ...

"Putney Man Runs On Socialistic Ideals"

Mitchell, an avowed socialist who wants to legalize drugs, nationalize energy and health care and end the war in Iraq, has run for political office twice before.

"Personally, I think the pendulum has swung so far toward the fallacy of free-market capitalism, that the emperor is now standing naked in front of the free world," he says. "It's a wonderful opportunity to consider the socialist alternative."

Mitchell says the lack of affordable health insurance for families like his own have led to an unnecessary health crisis in the richest country in the world.

"If you have a lot of money, you can get 15 MRIs and have access to whatever you want," he says. "I still owe for my children's births, which I'm paying off slowly."

Not only does Mitchell want to pardon all nonviolent drug offenders, he is also eager to legalize drugs altogether.

With nearly three-quarters of the inmate population presenting with addiction problems, Mitchell says, the state has effectively turned prisons into addiction treatment centers. He says the $35,000 taxpayers spend to keep each inmate incarcerated for a year could be better invested in proven treatment regimens.

"It's gotten to the point where with the scare tactics of the war on drugs, we're freeing pedophiles and sex offenders to make room for people who have addiction problems," he says.

Legalizing drugs, he says, offers a virtually overnight solution to Vermont's revenue shortfalls and shrinking agricultural sector. Were farmers able to grow marijuana, he says, the state would discover a cash crop that yields unprecedented profits. Taxes levied on the product, he says, would account for millions of dollars annually.

"It's just good policy," he says. "We could grow it in all our fields and have no problem finding people from New York or New Hampshire to buy it."