I’m sure we all knew that there might be some executives at larger companies who would support legalizing marijuana, but until now there wasn’t a “list”! Check it out:

  • John Mackey, co-CEO of Whole Foods Market
  • Richard Branson of the Virgin Group
  • Billionaire financier George Soros
  • Peter Lewis of Progressive Insurance (was a longtime advocate before his death in 2013).
  • And George Zimmer, CEO and founder of Men’s Wearhouse (who fired him two years ago)

He told CNBC, “I’ve been smoking marijuana on a regular basis for about 50 years. As you can see, it’s really impacted me in a negative way.” Obviously a joke.

Last week at the Cannabis World Congress & Business Expo in Los Angeles, Zimmer gave the keynote speech pushing for legalization. He said, “Everybody in the country knows what the truth here is, except the 535 people we elect to make these decisions in Washington, D.C. It’s astounding.”

Zimmer’s ouster from Men’s Wearhouse wasn’t pretty. But, he believes that being fired was probably the best thing that could have happened to him; it forced him to learn about the latest technological developments in retail and that led to his new businesses. Plural.

He just launched an online suit and tuxedo rental site called Generation Tux and a tailoring company called zTailors. Zimmer explains to CNBC, “Our business model involves having the tuxedo arrive a week ahead of your event, and you to try it on. If there’s a mistake, we will FedEx another out to you, and if it’s still not right, we will dispatch a tailor to make it right.” Both companies cost $50 million to start.

He’s currently supporting the initiative to legalize recreational marijuana in California, just like he did with the faild proposition in 2010. But no matter what form legalization might take, he thinks it’s important to protect limited home cultivation without any government licensing- whether that be one or 10 plants.

From CNBC:

“There are still a lot of questions that are raised in terms of dispensaries, and the way the IRS does not allow normal business deductions.” He’s hoping that could change, and that at the very least, the federal government will remove marijuana from the list of Schedule I drugs.

It’s treated like it was heroin,” he said. “Everybody’s who is in high school hears that and goes, ‘What are they talking about?'” He said it’s as if, “The emperor’s not wearing any clothes. This is the biggest con that has been perpetrated on this country in the last century.”

We are thankful for another friend of the cause that has influence. This amazing plant deserves to be used, grown and studied. People are dying and it can help. Time to wake up Washington.

Source: CNBC