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Republican New York Assemblyman Steve Katz, who voted against a medical marijuana bill in 2012, and was arrested for pot possession in March, will invest up to $10 million in the coming years in cannabis-related businesses, Smell the Truth has learned. Katz — a New York native and resident — joined the investor network of San Francisco-based marijuana investment and research firm The ArcView Group this December, said ArcView CEO Troy Dayton. "He's gung-ho."
Katz intends to help pool millions of dollars of investment capital and fund marijuana-related start-ups focused initially on marijuana business software, security, and distribution, he said. The growth of the medical marijuana and adult-use cannabis industry rivals the personal computer revolution of the early '90s, Katz said in an interview with Smell the Truth. "For me, entering this industry at this time is a dream come true from a child of the Sixties all grown up," he said.
Critics labelled Katz a hypocrite after voting against medical marijuana in 2012, then getting a pot ticket in March 2013, when an officer pulled him over for speeding. Katz said he did not personally support his 'no' vote on medical marijuana in 2012. "I decided to vote what I believed to be the vote of my constituents. The day after that I told my wife, 'Next year, I really don't care. I'm voting for medical marijuana because that's what I believe in and I'm not comfortable with what happened.' ... I knew how I was going to vote and I felt great about it. I knew how I was going to vote a year before the police incident."
Katz's citation for three grams of pot resulted in a $75 fine, 20 hours of community service and was dismissed. It also energized the veterinarian, who graduated Cornell in '76 and got a VMD from U. Penn in '89. The vet had worked with animals in French Guiana and the Galapagos, had founded a wildlife preserve in Israel and the Bronx Veterinary Center before self-funding an Assembly race in 2010 as a Tea Party candidate. The husband and father calls marijuana legalization a "core belief from the time I was in college and Rockefeller was the Governor." The pot ticket was "an epiphany," he said. "'You're turning me into a criminal? You got to be kidding.'"
News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Salon.com
Author: David Downs
Contact: Contact and Help - Salon.com
Website: Republican who voted against medical marijuana now investing in pot industry - Salon.com
Katz intends to help pool millions of dollars of investment capital and fund marijuana-related start-ups focused initially on marijuana business software, security, and distribution, he said. The growth of the medical marijuana and adult-use cannabis industry rivals the personal computer revolution of the early '90s, Katz said in an interview with Smell the Truth. "For me, entering this industry at this time is a dream come true from a child of the Sixties all grown up," he said.
Critics labelled Katz a hypocrite after voting against medical marijuana in 2012, then getting a pot ticket in March 2013, when an officer pulled him over for speeding. Katz said he did not personally support his 'no' vote on medical marijuana in 2012. "I decided to vote what I believed to be the vote of my constituents. The day after that I told my wife, 'Next year, I really don't care. I'm voting for medical marijuana because that's what I believe in and I'm not comfortable with what happened.' ... I knew how I was going to vote and I felt great about it. I knew how I was going to vote a year before the police incident."
Katz's citation for three grams of pot resulted in a $75 fine, 20 hours of community service and was dismissed. It also energized the veterinarian, who graduated Cornell in '76 and got a VMD from U. Penn in '89. The vet had worked with animals in French Guiana and the Galapagos, had founded a wildlife preserve in Israel and the Bronx Veterinary Center before self-funding an Assembly race in 2010 as a Tea Party candidate. The husband and father calls marijuana legalization a "core belief from the time I was in college and Rockefeller was the Governor." The pot ticket was "an epiphany," he said. "'You're turning me into a criminal? You got to be kidding.'"
News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Salon.com
Author: David Downs
Contact: Contact and Help - Salon.com
Website: Republican who voted against medical marijuana now investing in pot industry - Salon.com
