Charles Koch plans to use $ 25 million for state legalization

Pressure to legalize cannabis at the federal level has slowly increased over the years, but now with several of the country’s greatest billionaires on board, that dream could soon become a reality.

Charles Koch, the 85-year-old CEO of Koch Industries, is the latest multibillionaire to help fund the movement to finally end the state cannabis ban. In a recent interview with Forbes, Koch announced his support for a new plan to end the state weed ban by the end of this year. And to help make these efforts a success, Koch is contributing $ 25 million of his $ 45 billion fortune.

It may come as a surprise that Koch is a proponent of legalization, especially since the billionaire has already spent a fortune supporting Republican politicians and advocating conservative laws. However, Koch is a die-hard libertarian and rejects the idea that the government could put someone in jail just for smoking a joint or otherwise enjoying their personal freedom.

“It should be the decision of the individual,” Koch told Forbes. “[Prohibition] is counterproductive. It ruins people’s lives, creates conflict in society and is hostile to progress. It never made sense to me … Marijuana, as I understand it, is less addicting than alcohol. Why is alcohol legal and marijuana not? “

Koch also pointed out that the ongoing cannabis ban is a major contributing factor to the country’s serious problem of mass incarceration. Over 2 million Americans are behind bars today, and many of them are in jail for petty drug-related crimes.

“Through criminalization” [cannabis]”It has tremendous negative manifestations, not only for the people trapped in this system, but also for society,” Koch told Forbes. “We want a society that enables people to realize their potential and make their contribution, but with these laws you block millions of people.”

Despite just publicly announcing his support for legal weed, Koch has tacitly supported efforts to reform cannabis for years. In 2015, the billionaire helped fight for the release of Weldon Angelos, a Utah man who was sentenced to 55 years in prison for selling $ 1,000 worth of weed. Thanks to this powerful support, Angelos’ sentence was reduced in 2016 and then fully pardoned in 2020.

Over the past two years, Koch and his political advocacy group Americans For Prosperity (AFP) have reportedly spent over $ 70 million advancing drug reform efforts. In April, AFP joined several other advocacy groups to form the Cannabis Freedom Alliance, a new coalition dedicated to ending the federal cannabis ban.

“Americans for Prosperity is excited to work with our partners to bring cannabis companies to light and replace black and gray markets with a free and fair legal framework,” said Brent W. Gardner, AFP’s chief government affairs officer, on POLITICS in April . “The cannabis trade will be a way for Americans to stand up rather than a barrier to hold them back.”

The Cannabis Freedom Alliance hopes to convince Congress to pass the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, a new bill to end the federal cannabis ban. The bill will take 60 votes to pass the Senate, however, and President Biden has already said he opposes such a sweeping attempt at weed reform. But with Koch’s support, politicians could change their minds.

“We need 10 to 12 Republican senators,” Angelos, who is now a partner in the Cannabis Freedom Alliance, told Forbes. “With Koch’s influence, I think that’s likely.”

Koch isn’t the only billionaire to put his financial weight into cannabis reform. Jeff Bezos and his mega-corporation Amazon have also thrown their hats in the weed ring. Just before Bezos announced his resignation as CEO in June, Amazon officially registered as a pro-cannabis lobbyist.

Whether or not that lobbying convinces federal agencies to legalize weed this year, support from conservative business tycoons makes it clear that cannabis reform is an issue beyond political ideology, wealth, or class.

“For too long, drug policy has been mistakenly labeled as something that comes from the margins,” Brian Hooks, CEO of Stand Together and a member of the Cannabis Freedom Alliance, told Forbes. “Although the majority of Americans have long recognized that the system is wrong.”