Richard Branson Calls on Cannabis Advocates to Fight For Their Rights

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Tech Billionaire Richard Branson’s speech was the highlight at the second annual New West Summit at the Hyatt hotel in downtown San Francisco. “The Future of Cannabis, Now” was the theme and around 1,000 attendees gathered to hear Branson speak via Skype.

Branson has been busy working with high-profile former world leaders like former United Nations General Secretary Kofi Annan and 15 other world leaders. Both Branson and Annan serve on the Global Commission on Drug Policy and work towards loosening world cannabis laws.

“That’s the only way of sorting out the problems that come with drugs by not regulating and leaving it up to the underworld to supply drugs,” he said in his speech. “Our commission has worked really quite hard on that. We’ve had some successes and some massive failures, we’re going to keep going until we get governments to see otherwise.”

The two-day event is focused on the explosive growth the industry is seeing. At this exciting time in history, nine additional states will vote on legal marijuana this November.

Branson knows that legalizing cannabis in California would be a pivotal moment. California is home to the world’s sixth-largest economy and would carry far more importance than any other state. At age 16, Branson launched the magazine Student, his first major business venture. At age 22, he launched Virgin Megastores. He’s now worth over $5.2 billion. The lucrative business of cannabis is impossible for him to ignore. He also freely advised others to smoke pot with your kids.

A quick stroll through the New West Summit will give anyone a clear idea of where the cannabis market is headed. The addition of Richard Branson the importance of the new emerging industry. According to a report from New Frontier Financial, the industry will grow to be worth $20.5 billion by 2020.