California: the cannabis legalization movement leaves little room for its opponents

Police groups and anti-drug activists don't really like the idea, but the legalization of recreational cannabis has every chance of making it to California.

The latest California polls show that 60% of voting-age people approve of legalization. And with the support of billionaire Sean Parker, the legalization bill in the Golden State, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), is flush with cash.

This financial support is important: California is home to 39 million people and TV spots are planned to influence voting in September.

A new analysis by MapLight, a non-partisan research organization that tracks financial flows in politics, concludes that AUMA «has enormous fundraising support» unlike its opponents.

Pro-legalization forces raised 240 times more money than opponents of recreational cannabis, according to MapLight, about 3.3 million $, versus 13,635$ for the group Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana.

Sean Parker, co-founder of Napster and former president of Facebook, contributed a third of AUMA's loot, more than $1 million.

Another big name among the donors, Nicholas Pritzker, CEO of Tao Capital (an investment fund in technology, alternative energies, health, education, agriculture, etc.) and heir to the Hyatt hotels, contributed 250,000$.

AUMA is supported by National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP, an anti-racism association), NORML and the political section of the Drug Policy Alliance, Drug Policy Action, who contributed 500,000$.

«When people see that a proposed referendum measure is backed by the largest coalition ever to support cannabis reform, we expect to receive contributions large and small from all over the state,» announced AUMA spokesperson Jason Kinney.

Tommy Chong is already looking forward to it.

Looks like it's going to be fully legal in California this November. https://t.co/FTSuaaNUsQ

- Tommy Chong (@tommychong) May 10, 2016