Pubdate: Thu, 03 Apr 2014
Source: Albany Tribune (NY)
Copyright: 2014 Albany Tribune
Contact: http://www.albanytribune.com/contact-albany-tribune/
Website: http://www.albanytribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5501

BILLIONAIRE GEORGE SOROS BEHIND MAJOR PUSH FOR MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION

Hungarian-American billionaire and philanthropist George Soros is no
stranger when it comes to throwing around money, but the former hedge
fund manager is making headlines over some major donations he's made
to help legalize marijuana.

On the heels of the approval of two of the United States' first
recreational laws in Colorado and Washington, other locales across the
country are considering implementing policy changes that could
decriminalize pot, ease penalties for users or eliminate weed laws
altogether. Advocacy groups are leading the campaign to crush
marijuana prohibition from coast-to-coast, and 83-year-old Soros is
helping line the pockets of those making that push.

On Wednesday this week, Kelly Riddell at The Washington Times pulled
back the curtain to reveal details about some of the roles that Soros
has played in the pro-weed debate, and helped explain how the
billionaire's many foundations are fighting the war against pot
prohibition.

"Through a network of nonprofit groups, Mr. Soros has spent at least
$80 million on the legalization effort since 1994, when he diverted a
portion of his foundation's funds to organizations exploring
alternative drug policies, according to tax filings," Riddell wrote.

The Soros-affiliated Foundation to Promote an Open Society donates
roughly $4 million annually to the Drug Policy Alliance, Riddell
added, a nonprofit group that describes itself as the nation's leading
organization promoting drug policies that are grounded in science,
compassion, health and human rights. Soros is among the group of board
members who help steer policy reform efforts undertaken by that
organization, which has contributed to the successful attempts in both
Colorado and Washington state to legalize recreational marijuana, as
well as in Uruguay where last year the South American country became
the first in the world to allow for the regulation, distribution and
sale of weed to legal adults.

Records obtained by the Times also reveal that Soros cuts other
substantial checks annually to the American Civil Liberties Union,
"which in turn funds marijuana legalization efforts," Riddell wrote,
as well as the Marijuana Policy Project which funds state ballot
measures. In 2013, the MPP ranked Soros as the ninth most influential
marijuana user in the US, behind President Barack Obama, television
host Oprah Winfrey and a handful of other politicians and
celebrities.

The co-director and spokesperson for that group, Mason Tvert, told the
Times that MPP and the Drug Policy Alliance are planning to support
full legalization measures in the near future in the states of
Arizona, California, Massachusetts, Maine, Montana and Nevada, and
Soros himself has advocated on behalf of previous attempts to abolish
pot prohibition in at least one of those locales.

Ahead of an attempt in November 2010 to legalize weed in California
through the failed Proposition 19, Soros wrote an op-ed for the Wall
Street Journal in which he called the since-failed initiative "a major
step forward."

"In many respects, of course, Proposition 19 already is a winner no
matter what happens on Election Day," Soros wrote then. "The mere fact
of its being on the ballot has elevated and legitimized public
discourse about marijuana and marijuana policy in ways I could not
have imagined a year ago."

Soros declined to be interviewed for the Times' article published this
week, but he's more than likely enthused about the approval of
pro-weed laws in Colorado and Washington carried out after Prop 19 was
defeated in the polls. And with regards to initiatives up for vote
during the 2014 election, Riddell wrote that Soros is once again
playing a substantial role.

"In Florida, Mr. Soros has teamed up with multimillionaire and
Democratic fundraiser John Morgan to donate more than 80 percent of
the money to get medical marijuana legalization on the ballot through
its initiative 'United for Care, People United for Medical
Marijuana,'" Riddell wrote, and the MPP is "focusing a lot of time and
resources passing bills" in Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, New Hampshire,
Rhode Island and Vermont, according to her report.

"It's only a matter of time before marijuana is legalized under
federal law," Tom Angell, founder and chairman of the Marijuana
Majority advocacy group, told the Times. "We now have 20 states plus
the District of Columbia considering legalization efforts, two states
have already legalized it for all adults over the age of 21 -
politicians will have to follow the will of the people on this."

As RT reported previously, the results of a Pew Research Center poll
released last year found that 52 percent of Americans support the
legalization of marijuana. Despite recently approved laws in
Washington and Colorado, marijuana remains an illegal narcotic under
federal law.
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MAP posted-by: Matt