BU PROF TAKES POT SHOTS AT MARIJUANA LAWS

Legalizing pot would save the Bay State as much as $138 million a
year, a Boston University economics professor claims in a study
released yesterday.

The report, written by Professor Jeffrey A. Miron for the pro-
marijuana group Change the Climate, says that eliminating enforcement
costs and taxing marijuana sales could save the salary equivalent of
2,300 cops, teachers and firefighters.

"All we need now is for politicians to show some guts, initiative and
creativity, said Joseph White, founder of Change the Climate.

The report was released in advance of a Change the Climate advertising
campaign coming to Bay State billboards in the next few days touting
the cost savings of legalization.

It's the same group that is suing the MBTA for refusing to post ads it
sought to put on buses and trains.

Citing the success of a non-binding Massachusett ballot initiative on
legalizing marijuana in 39 districts, White said his or other
legalization groups might be looking to make another push here.

Legalization would not likely mean kids could legitimately toke up,
but White said, "We also don't want them to go to jail or lose their
federal financial aid for smoking a joint in a park."

Miron, who said he is not a pot smoker and isn't interested in
breaking the law in any case, calculated the savings by estimating the
cost to arrest, prosecute and jail marijuana criminals.