Soros gives $1m to cannabis campaign

Billionaire financier George Soros has thrown his weight behind California's marijuana legalisation campaign with a $1m (£630,000) donation a week before the vote. The contribution is the single biggest donation from an individual other than Proposition 19's main sponsor, Oakland medical marijuana entrepreneur Richard Lee.

Soros, a high-profile liberal and philanthropist, has long backed drug law reform. He bankrolled California's pioneering measure to legalise medical marijuana in the state in 1996.