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We Get It, Men's Wearhouse Founder: You Smoke Weed
George Zimmer with some of his smoking buddies. (Photo by Kimberly White via Getty Images)
At the Cannabis World Congress & Business Expo here in Los Angeles last Friday, the keynote speaker delivered an incendiary political speech in favor of marijuana legalization. Just who was that speaker? No, not Marijuana Don. It was the second-most interesting man in the world, Men's Wearhouse founder George Zimmer.
"Everybody in the country knows what the truth here is, except the 535 people we elect to make these decisions in Washington, D.C." Zimmer said at the expo. "It's astounding."
He told CNBC that he's been smoking pot regularly for 50 years. "As you can see, it's really impacted me in a negative way," he said jokingly, gesturing down to his custom suit that we imagine was paid for in part by his $150 million fortune. Zimmer railed against the government's classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug. "It's treated like it was heroin...This is the biggest con that has been perpetrated on this country in the last century."
Zimmer, who was ousted from his position as as executive chairman of Men's Wearhouse in 2013 in a totally unchill way, has made a comeback with a new tuxedo rental company called Generation Tux. But that's not the only business endeavor on his mind; last year, Zimmer told CNBC that he had looked into investing in a pot-related start up but gave up when he realized the IRS prevents normal business deductions for dispensaries.
This man is no bandwaggoner. Back in 2010, he was an outspoken advocate of marijuana legalization, donating $50,000 to Prop 19, the ballot initiative that would have legalized marijuana in California (also on that donor list: chill-ass PBS travel show host and author Rick Steves).
The timing of Zimmer's speech is quite good: Snoop Dogg just launched his own lifestyle media platform with original videos and editorial content dedicated to the herb, called Merry Jane, and he'll probably need someone to cover the menswear beat.
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