Pubdate: Sat, 30 Nov 2013
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2013 Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.mercurynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Author: Julie Carr Smyth, Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?168 (Lewis, Peter)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

FUNDER OF LEGAL U. S. POT DIES

Philanthropist Had Donated Up to $ 60m to Relax Laws

COLUMBUS, Ohio - With the death of Cleveland billionaire and 
philanthropist Peter Lewis, the push for relaxed U. S. marijuana laws 
lost its most generous supporter. That's left supporters wondering 
what comes next.

Lewis, chairman of Progressive Insurance, died Saturday at age 80. 
Since the 1980s, he had donated an estimated $ 40 million to $ 60 
million to marijuana law reform - including underwriting ballot 
campaigns, research, political polling and legal defense efforts.

Largely through Lewis' efforts, and those of several other 
billionaires, 20 states since 1996 have passed medical marijuana 
laws, 17 have decriminalized the drug and two have passed 
legalization language.

Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for 
theReform of Marijuana Laws, said organizations that relied on Lewis' 
largesse will almost certainly need to build new fundraising 
structures if they want to carry on. Those include some 25 nonprofit 
groups that have grown up around the medical marijuana and marijuana 
legalization questions.

"For this epoch, from 1995 to 2013, there's no peer on the Earth 
regarding who put money up for marijuana law reform," St. Pierre said.

St. Pierre calls that a bittersweet state of affairs for the cause he 
shared with Lewis - the sweet being because Lewis was so reliably 
generous and bitter because he believes Lewis' deep pockets made 
others complacent.

He said polling has identified 40 million U. S. marijuana consumers 
among 300 million Americans, yet only perhaps 30,000 people over a 
decade have donated to groups like his.

"Frustratingly, Peter Lewis really was the sole funder for so many 
entities," he said. "Now we're going to find out whether, when the 
funder's no longer there, is this really a movement?"

Carla Lowe, founder of the California-based political action 
committee Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana, said she has no 
doubt that proponents of relaxed drug laws will find the resources to 
promote their agenda.

"There's plenty of money out there. The drug money is beyond what I 
can begin to comprehend," she said. "I've been fighting this for 37 
years and I've seen nothing but more money, not less."

She named billionaires George Soros, George Zimmer of Men's Wearhouse 
and Phoenix University CEO John Sperling among those who will carry on.

"On our side, we need a George Soros but we don't have one," she 
said. "It's moms, dads and grandparents just pounding away and never 
giving up."

A key element of Lewis' reform effortswasthe funding of $ 7 million 
provided for the American Civil Liberties Union's drug litigation 
task force, St. Pierre said. That was on top of tens of millions of 
dollars given to the ACLU.

Christine Link, executive director of the ACLU- Ohio, said Lewis was 
a risk-taker who was full of ideas for meeting his goals, and he left 
a mark on every organization he served, whether it was his alma 
mater, Princeton University, the Guggenheim Museum, Case Western 
Reserve or his company.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom