[420 Girl]

Worcester, MA - William T. Breault, head of the Main South Alliance for Public Safety, called efforts to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana “a cynical dopey smoke screen” to cover “the real agenda, an attempt to derail current effective drug laws.”

“We want to put a bright light on this,” said Mr. Breault, a longtime opponent of decriminalization as well as needle exchange, who helped to defeat a medical marijuana ballot question in 2000. “We think this is not about decriminalization, it’s about eventual legalization given who’s put up most of the money.”

He referred to George Soros, the billionaire who has contributed millions of dollars nationwide over the years to change marijuana laws. Mr. Soros contributed $400,000 of the $429,000 raised for the 2008 initiative in Massachusetts.

“He’s got a right to push for his ideas, but we’re going to put the statistical data out there that we have,” Mr. Breault said. “We don’t want this thing decided by the Sugar Daddy of the legalization movement.”

Mr. Breault said his group plans a statewide campaign modeled after the successful 2000 effort, to fight this year’s ballot question, which would make possession of less than an ounce of cannabis a civil offense.

“We’ve sent letters to 250 police departments, all the district attorneys, the attorney general, the secretary of state, 48 mayors and we’re going to be in contact with individual councilors in cities all over the state,” he said. “We’ll be telling chambers of commerce that decriminalization is bad for business. We’ll be talking to Rotary Clubs, the Boy Scouts — everybody.”

Proponents of decriminalization say recreational marijuana use is not connected to hard drug addiction, while conviction can trail a person for life and negatively affect job opportunities, the ability to borrow money and even to rent an apartment.

Decriminalization would save the state more than $150 million in police, prosecution, court and incarceration costs, according to two studies done by Harvard professor Jeffrey A. Miron in 2002 and 2005.

By Mr. Miron’s estimation, getting small possession arrests out of the criminal system would save $53.9 million in police costs, $68.4 million in court costs, $7.95 million in prison costs and $24.3 million on the administrative aspects of arrests, including booking.

The ballot initiative would make possession of less than an ounce punishable by a $100 fine, require attendance in a drug awareness program and parental notification for offenders under 18.


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