Sean Parker donates $1 million to legalize cannabis in California

Napster co-founder and former Facebook president Sean Parker has donated 1 million $s to support the Napster effort. legalization of recreational cannabis in California.

Parker is the largest individual donor in the popular referendum to be held before the November elections. Supporters of legalization are currently collecting the 365880 signatures needed to validate the vote. They have received $1.25 million from other donors, including Weedmaps and the Drug Policy Action. Donations are used to pay the volunteers who collect the signatures and to generate public support through advertising.

The vote follows recent legislation in California that lays the groundwork for a legal cannabis market in California.

The «Parker measure», as the cannabis industry calls it, is supported by the Drug Policy Alliance, the Marijuana Policy Project, and the California Cannabis Industry Association, the main players in the legalization movement.

«Cannabis is rooted in Silicon Valley culture,» says Emily Paxhia, founding partner of Poseidon Asset Management, a cannabis and hemp investment fund. Poseidon also supports the legalization project in which Sean Parker has invested.

4 states have already legalized cannabis for recreational use, but legalization advocates believe that California, with its size and influential status, could be a driving force for legalization in other US states.

Details of California's cannabis legalization project

The stakes are enormous. Experts estimate the cannabis market in California at several billion, not just through taxes, but through the entire network of licensed cultivation, distribution and testing labs, all of which need employees, craftsmen and equipment.

If the measure passes, it would create a new Bureau of Cannabis Control, which would require growers and sellers to pay taxes, and establish stiff penalties for anyone caught illegally diverting water, a very important aspect of the bill. It would tighten up the state's relatively lax system and effectively ban access to people under 21.

The measure would allow adults to possess up to 28g of cannabis and grow 6 plants without a license. It would prohibit public consumption, require quality control and lab testing, and give licensed businesses priority access to recognized medical cannabis producers, guaranteeing them an edge over the recreational competition.

A similar effort fell through in 2014 for lack of support. In 2010, voters rejected the proposal.

Sean Parker had already donated 100,000$ for this measure. He regularly makes personal commitments to civic, environmental and health causes.