Peter Lewis, and Ohio billionaire, is paying for a ballot question supporting the medicinal use of marijuana in Massachusetts almost entirely himself, according to the Boston Herald.  Lewis is the chairman of insurance company Progressive Corporation and is a well known marijuana advocate.  The has back other state including Ohio and Washington.

Lewis contributed $525,000 to the Committee for Compassionate Medicine, which supports the medicinal use of marijuana, the state campaign finance reports. The group raised a total of $526,000, which means that all but $1,000 was funded by Lewis. Most of the money went to pay for professional signature gatherers, who gathered signatures in order to guarantee that the question would get a spot on the upcoming November ballot.

The Massachusetts ballot question would allow patients with debilitating medical conditions such as cancer, AIDS and multiple sclerosis to get permission from their doctors to use marijuana.

The financial support will definitely boost the fight for legalizing marijuana.  Who says money can’t buy happiness?

I wanted to start off by saying, congratulations to Medical Marijuana Inc., as they succeeded even with all the anti-marijuana actions that took place in 2011.  The first publicly held company vested in the medical marijuana and industrial hemp industries known as Medical Marijuana Inc (OTC: MJNA) is pleased to announce that its quarter over quarter revenue ending December 31, 2011 has increased in excess of one hundred (100%) percent.

“As many of you know, there were many challenges that faced the industry in 2011, for which we are extremely pleased with the increase in revenue and the overall numbers at the close of the fiscal year. These challenges came primarily from the banking and the financial institution’s guidelines on the regulation of businesses within the cannabis and hemp industry. However, at the end of the fourth quarter when we were able to overcome those issues, revenues fell right in line. We anticipate company revenues to continue to increase dramatically through the end of 2012,” stated Medical Marijuana Inc.

Medical Marijuana Inc.’s mission is to be the world’s premier cannabis and hemp industry innovators, leveraging our team of professionals to source, evaluate, invest in and purchase value-added sustainable companies, while allowing them to keep their integrity and entrepreneurial spirit. They strive to create awareness within our industry, pay homage to the visionaries and activists of the past and present, and provide the platform from which the industry can emerge into a global sustainable economy for all. Medical Marijuana Inc recognizes the vast and unequaled opportunities that exist in the rapidly expanding hemp and medical marijuana industries. The scientific recognition of cannabis has brought legalized marijuana to the forefront of mainstream discussion, thus opening the door for safe and lucrative investment opportunities.

Wholesale prices of marijuana seem to be on the rise in California since a crackdown by federal prosecutors is putting pressure over the state’s marijuana industry.  even with all the crackdowns, some Northern California growers are willing to risk prison time.

Outdoor grown marijuana are stabilizing and in some areas are up between 20 and 40 percent, according to interviews with growers, law enforcement agents and analysts.  “It’s been a downward thrust since 1996, but this year, prices have been up,” said Kym Kemp, a Humboldt-based blogger who closely follows Northern California’s marijuana scene.

“People are saying, ‘Maybe this isn’t our last season,’ ” she said. “I don’t think people are ready to be optimistic, but they’re less depressed.”

In recent years, California’s booming medical marijuana industry attracted a rush of new players who harvested increasingly large amounts of pot – for storefront dispensaries and the black market. Some longtime operators responded by also “growing big.”

But this year, production levels have dropped, in part because of rainy weather and a “bumper crop of mold,” said medical marijuana grower and activist Charley Custer. “It was a perfect storm,” he said.

It wasn’t just the weather. Stepped-up enforcement actions by local and federal law enforcement led some growers to lay low and reduce their plant counts to double digits.

“Some growers decided to keep it small this year,” said Dale Gieringer, state director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

With marijuana supplies under pressure, prices responded as they would with any other commodity.

Since the fall harvest, Northern California growers have seen prices jump to between $2,000 and $2,500 per pound for “good-quality” marijuana, according to Kemp.

Law enforcement agencies say it’s too early to get a clear read on this year’s harvest.

There were a total of 372 medical marijuana dispensaries that filed for their business tax paperwork with the city’s office of finance before the Oct. 31 deadline.  This form is in preparation for paying the new pot tax.  Los Angeles is known for it’s many dispensaries, actually more than any other city, but not all dispensaries have filed for the new pot tax, 372 is just the number that want to been seen as following the city’s rules.

Asha Greenberg, the assistant city attorney who has overseen attempts to shut down illegal stores, said she believes there are at least 500. “I do hear of new ones opening up every day, either from the police department or from irate neighbors,” she said.

The  police first tried to figure out how many dispensaries were in the city in 2005.  During that year the police only found 4, which increased significantly the next year when police found 98.  In 2007, the city required dispensaries to register to stay open during a moratorium, in which 186 followed. About two years ago, city officials believe the total number of dispensaries may reach around 850.

In March, L.A. voters approved Measure M, which requires dispensaries to pay a 5% business tax on gross receipts, 10 times more than the next-highest business rate. Janice Hahn, who was then on the City Council, proposed the tax and estimated it would raise at least $10 million. Cannabis businesses will have to pay the tax for this year at the end of February.

The City Council, however, is expected to debate a ban on all dispensaries as soon as January. A recent appeals court decision raised doubts about whether the city has the power to impose significant public safety regulations, such as restrictions on locations. And the ruling also thwarted the city’s plans to cap the number of dispensaries at 100 through a lottery.

But a ban wouldn’t stop the city from collecting the tax from dispensaries that choose to ignore it. “There is considerable precedent around the country and at the state level for collecting taxes even on illegal businesses,” said Jane Usher, a special assistant city attorney.