DA RIPS BIG $ DRUG-LAW REFORM BACKERS Suffolk County District Attorney Ralph Martin yesterday lashed out at the big-money backers of a drug-law reform ballot question, saying billionaire George Soros and other Question 8 supporters ought to show their faces in Massachusetts. "Let them come to Massachusetts and see what ravages their support for this question will ensure," Martin said. "Let them come to the neighborhoods in Dorchester and Roxbury, and in Brockton and Springfield and Lawrence." The controversial measure would divert fines for drug crimes and seized assets in law enforcement custody into a fund for drug treatment. It would also allow judges the discretion to order first- and second-time drug offenders into treatment programs rather than jail. Soros, a New York financier, has pumped more than $537,000 into the Question 8 campaign as part of a mission to support such legislation around the country. Other wealthy donors include Arizona millionaire John Sperling ($292,500) and Cleveland insurance magnate Peter Lewis ($562,500). Martin also called on the three men to "come to these communities and debate the police chiefs and the district attorneys." But local supporters of the ballot question called the challenge absurd. "That's like asking George Bush's campaign contributors to debate Al Gore," said Thomas Kiley, a former assistant attorney general who helped draft the language in Question 8. "I'm the treasurer of the coalition. I'm the creator of the political committee. To the extent there is a Mr. Question 8, it's me. And I gladly accept the (debate) challenge." Still, opponents said Soros and the other big-money donors owe it to Massachusetts voters to explain why they're trying to shape public policy here when they live elsewhere. "This is all about three guys who want to turn our country into a drug zone," said Charley Manning, a Republican political consultant and organizer for the Question 8 opposition. But Question 8 organizer and spokeswoman Mary Fifield said the money issue should be turned on its ear. She charged that Martin and other public officials, including Gov. Paul Cellucci, are politicking against the measure on the public's time and money.
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