The billionaire George Soros is speaking out in favor of legalizing the marijuana industry.
The financier laid out his arguments for backing California’s Proposition 19, which would legalize the recreational use and small-scale cultivation of marijuana, in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal.
Aside from the usual arguments for backing legalization — tax revenue for the federal government, regulation of a corrupt industry, reduction in violent crime — Mr. Soros also argued that the motivation for criminalizing marijuana was rooted in racism:
Racial prejudice also helps explain the origins of marijuana prohibition. When California and other U.S. states first decided (between 1915 and 1933) to criminalize marijuana, the principal motivations were not grounded in science or public health but rather in prejudice and discrimination against immigrants from Mexico who reputedly smoked the “killer weed.”
And it seems Mr. Soros has put his money where his mouth is on this issue: the financier has invested $3 million in the medical marijuana initiative and two other measures, according to The Los Angeles Times. While he has not yet donated to support Proposition 19, Michael Vachon, an adviser to Mr Soros, told the newspaper that “he plans to make a significant contribution.”
http://ow.ly/1rhxYd
No comments:
Post a Comment