



If this isn’t California’s savior, who is?

Virgin Founder Sir Richard Branson got more than he bargained for at his last drug policy panel.

The British entrepreneur and philanthropist, estimated to hold a fortune worth about five billion dollars, pressed the need for major drug policy reforms during a March 25th panel discussion of the documentary “Breaking the Taboo,” a scathing critique of the global drug war by Branson’s son Sam. But when the moderator opened up time for audience questions, Americans for Policy Reform director John Lee parleyed the academic conversation into a direct proposal for action.

Lee, a proponent of California’s Marijuana Control, Legalization & Revenue Act, summarized his initiative’s condition. “We’re ready to go,” he told the billionaire. “But we need money.”

It was an understatement. As co-proponent Dave Hodges has since told the Leaf, his group is “looking for a 2014 miracle.” The initiative has been cleared for signature gathering by the state Attorney General, but time is rapidly running out to collect the 504,760 signatures which must be submitted to the state no later than April 18th. Unfortunately, such a rapid signature gathering effort presents a very expensive proposition to any California group hoping to make it to the 2014 ballot. “Six months ago we could have done it for a million dollars,” said Hodges. “But this close to the deadline, it will cost more like three million.”

That may sound like a lot, but for the taxpayers of California, it’s a hell of a bargain, according to nonpartisan state auditors who estimate the measure’s passage could save the state over $100 million every year. And that figure doesn’t even take into account the economic benefits of a newly legal adult use cannabis industry, fiscal benefits which have so far been significantly greater in Colorado than projected by state agencies. The profit prospects of the legal cannabis industry are already so frenzied that one hemp penny stock has already minted the first “legal” cannabis billionaire. How much more money could be made if the country’s most populous state passed an initiative which would finally clarify its murky laws and bring a degree of stability to an industry rocked by uncertainty? How could a single vaporware penny stock be worth a billion dollars, yet legal California cannabis isn’t worth three million?

Sadly, for Hodges’ group that may yet prove the perverse economics of reform. Branson declined to commit any funds, and the tenor of the room returned to just talking.

In all fairness to the billionaire in the room that particular evening, Branson has indeed given generously of his time and resources as a commissioner of the Global Commission on Drugs; yet the plain mathematics of the situation cannot help but beg the question of why, if not him, no other philanthropist has stepped forward to further such a publicly lucrative cause.

If you or anyone you know is that philanthropist, it’s now or never. The MCLR proponents can be reached at John@afpr.us or (408)293-0420. All of California is awaiting your call.