Global Ganja Report

Billionaire financier George Soros has thrown his support behind California's Proposition 19 legalization measure with a $1 million donation just one week before the vote. The contribution is the single biggest donation from an individual other than Prop 19's main sponsor, Oakland medical cannabis entrepreneur Richard Lee.

Soros, was one of the top financial backers of California's groundbreaking Prop 215 that legalized medical cannabis in 1996. But he held off on openly endorsing the current measure until writing an op-ed published Oct. 25 in the Wall Street Journal. In the piece, Soros wrote: "Just as the process of repealing national alcohol prohibition began with individual states repealing their own prohibition laws, so individual states must now take the initiative with respect to repealing marijuana prohibition laws."

The $1 million donation comes a day after the Yes on 19 campaign launched its first TV ad (featuring former San Jose police chief Joseph  McNamara). The anti-19 campaign also recently took to the airwaves for the first time with a radio ad sponsored by the California Chamber of Commerce, claiming the law would threaten workplace safety and harm the state's economy. (AP, Oct. 26)