What Soros’ Pot Committee Didn’t Want You To Know
TAGS: Boston Herald, Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy, George Soros, marijuana, Marijuana Policy Project.
The pro-marijuana group, the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy, is upset that the Boston Herald revealed that George Soros provides their funding and for suggesting their initiative has ulterior motives.
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.
What wrong with letting the public whose minds you’re trying to influence who is the financial backer of your group? Are they ashamed of George Soros or his money? Why are they so upset about this being reported? People like to know what lobbyists have a financial hold on politicians, why not advocacy groups, too? It’s only fair, seeing as all their money is coming from groups that support the legalization of marijuana, and they claim they don’t support that cause.
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.
Exactly.
