Marijuana legalization receiving fewer contributions than previous drug-related propositions
Many big-money donors, such as George Soros, played a major role in the state's pathbreaking 1996 medical marijuana initiative. But this year, Proposition 19 has attracted few large donations.
 Sponsor Richard Lee Lee and his allies remain hopeful that six-figure checks will roll in. (Robert Galbraith, Reuters / July 23, 2010) |
E-mail
Print
la-me-pot-money-20100809 
Two years ago, when Californians were voting on an initiative that would have trimmed prison time for nonviolent drug offenders, Bob Wilson, a wealthy New York City investor, spent $2.8 million on the ultimately unsuccessful campaign to get it passed.
Wilson would seem a likely sugar daddy for Proposition 19, the marijuana legalization initiative on the November ballot. He has been giving away much of his fortune, more than $500 million so far, and he believes that pot, which he tried but didn't much like, ought to be legal.
"There's no intellectual argument whatever for not legalizing it," Wilson said. "People who get stoned do much less damage to themselves and others than people who get drunk."
Wilson has kept an eye on the initiative, but he doesn't plan to send a check. The polls, he said, don't look good. He thinks Richard Lee, the sponsor, should have waited until 2012. And, after Proposition 5 was trounced in 2008, he no longer trusts the state's voters to be progressive trendsetters.Marijuana legalization receiving less contributions than previous drug-related propositions - latimes.com
No comments:
Post a Comment