SUPPORTERS OF INITIATIVE TO CHANGE POT LAWS DENY LEGALIZATION GOAL

Backers of a ballot question to decriminalize some pot possession
fired back at charges that their initiative is a gateway for weaker
drug laws - and took aim at the Herald for uncovering who's funding
the movement.

"(The Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy) does not support
marijuana 'legalization' or endorse or condone marijuana use, as the
Herald is well aware" wrote campaign manager Whitney Taylor in an e-mail.

Taylor, who would not be interviewed, also wrote: "The Herald's effort
to confuse Bay Staters into thinking Question 2 is about marijuana
legalization is a disservice to voters."

The Herald reported yesterday that the ballot committee received 30
percent of its money from the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington,
D.C., group that promotes legal, over-the-counter sales of marijuana.

Overall, $400,000 - 63 percent - of the $635,000 it raised came from
George Soros, a billionaire philanthropist. He is on the board of the
Drug Policy Alliance Network, a New York group that backs legalization
of marijuana.

If passed, Question 2 would not make pot legal. It would make having
an ounce or less of marijuana a civil rather than criminal offense
punishable by a $100 fine. Minors would have to complete a drug
awareness program if caught, and their parents would be notified.

Middlesex District Attorney Gerard Leone said it's fair to scrutinize
the money behind the movement.

"The fact that Question 2 is being financed by activists who support
over-the-counter marijuana is further evidence that they have a
larger, pro-drug mission," Leone said in a statement.