Connecticut Group Calls On State to Stop 5 Minutes to Oppose Drugs

A coalition of political and business leaders is asking the entire state to drop everything for five minutes on Thursday morning to consider the drug problem.

The event, dubbed “The Moment of Consciousness,” will last from 10:55 a.m. to 11 a.m., and is being promoted on public service television commercials broadcast across the state.

“For five minutes, businesses will stop . . . schools will stop . . . TV and radio programming will be interrupted,” the television ads say. “We’re asking you to do one more thing in your life to fight substance abuse.”

The event coincides with a nationwide anti-drug effort in which people are asked to sport red ribbons. But William Kauffman, a former banker who is working full-time as president of Drugs Don’t Work, a partnership of state business and political leaders that organized “The Moment,” said the Connecticut effort is unique.

“It’s kind of like the Great American Smokeout,” he said. “But we don’t know of anyone in the nation who has tried to stop a state--or at least make it pause.”

More than 1,300 schools and businesses have agreed to participate, representing more than 400,000 of the state’s 3.3 million residents, organizers said.

When the moment begins, programming on Connecticut television will be replaced by a prerecorded segment narrated by ABC News anchorman Peter Jennings.

Television viewers will see toll-free numbers they can call to register their commitment to fighting substance abuse.