The battle over a Massachusetts initiative [13] that would decriminalize marijuana possession is heating up. Although the initiative, which would make marijuana possession a civil rather than a criminal infraction (and is known as Question 2 on the ballot), leads comfortably in early polling, organized opposition led by the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association (MDAA) emerged this month, and on Wednesday, initiative sponsors the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy [14] (CSMP) announced it had filed criminal complaints against the prosecutors for violating campaign fundraising laws and publishing false statements about the initiative.
The prosecutors, organized into the Coalition for Safe Streets, filed a statement of organization on September 5 and have come out swinging [15] since then. There's just one problem, according to CSMP. Under state campaign finance laws, ballot committees cannot raise money until they register with the state, as the Coalition for Safe Streets did less than two weeks ago. But CSMP has evidence that prosecutors were funneling money into the effort as far back as July. This unlawful fundraising and spending constitutes the 14 counts of CSMP's first complaint [16].
CSMP's second complaint [17] charges prosecutors violated state election laws prohibiting the making of false statements about candidates or ballot issues in at least five instances. Targeted by the complaint are such anti-marijuana fare appearing on the MDAA web site [18] as "Decriminalization will reverse a recently documented positive trend in youth marijuana use," "There is a direct link between marijuana use and criminal activity," and "There is a direct link between marijuana use and motor vehicle crashes." In its complaint, CSMP systematically rebuts each of these statements.
"The people who are paid to uphold the law should also be expected to follow the law," said CSMP campaign manager Whitney Taylor. "The DAs blatantly ignored the law in a cynical attempt to conceal their campaign activity for as long as they could, undermining the very laws they have sworn to uphold. Not only does this warrant an immediate investigation, but because of the positions they hold, they need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."