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Cliff Thornton facts for kids

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Clifford "Cliff" W. Thornton, Jr. was born on January 16, 1945, in Hartford, Connecticut. He is an American who works to change rules about medicines and health. He is also a politician from the Green Party of the United States. He even helped lead the Green Party for a while.

Clifford Thornton's Work

Helping Change Rules

In the 1990s, Clifford Thornton started a group called Efficacy. This group was non-profit, meaning it didn't aim to make money. Its goal was to teach people about changing rules related to medicines and health.

From 2003 to 2008, Thornton talked to many people. He spoke to over 400,000 people in 750 places. These places were in the United States, Australia, Canada, Europe, and New Zealand. He also appeared on over 400 radio shows. He was on many TV shows too. He talked about how rules for medicines affect health, different groups of people, and money.

Running for Governor

In 2006, Thornton ran for Governor of Connecticut. He was the candidate for the Connecticut Green Party. He was the first African American person to be on the ballot for Governor in Connecticut. Some people who study politics thought he had strong ideas. They liked his views on changing rules about medicines.

In October 2006, Thornton was first asked to join a debate for Governor. This debate was put on by the League of Women Voters and The Day newspaper. But then, he was uninvited. This happened because the debate sponsors disagreed if he should be allowed to join. His campaign received 9,583 votes. This was just under one percent of all the votes.

A Special Award

In 2007, Thornton received an important award. It was called the Robert C. Randall Award. He got it for his great work in citizen action. This award came from the Drug Policy Alliance.

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