♪ ♪ >> on "america tonight." >> i wanted to be seen. i wanted people to see me hear me. it motivated me to keep pushing and keep pushing. >> "america tonight's" sarah hoye with the man known as freeway, a hip hop artist dedicated to cavism and spreading a message. and also from the grass roots

correspondent lisa fletcher, what's lit up marijuana activists in ohio. >> are you passionate about the legalization of marijuana or the financial implications it has? >> i'm passionate about both. it's got huge financial implication. i love ohio. >> are business interests pulling the strings? good evening everyone, thanks for joining us, i'm adam may sitting in for joie chen tonight. high risks and high rewards. that's what's at stake in a proposed marijuana initiative in the state of ohio. our "america tonight" investigates, seeing that a small group stands to make a lot of money.

our lisa fletcher, from the capital to the corn fields, to find out if voters are waish of aware of the initiative and if they really care. >> reporter: in the heart of ohio the famous swing state and political barometer of the nation. >> legalize it. >> reporter: the movement to legalize marijuana is growing like a weed. >> thank you you too. >> reporter: if these blue-shirted workers succeed ohio could be the fifth state to legalize the recreational use of the drugs. they have already gathered more than 550,000 signatures across the state, nearly double the requirement to qualify for november ballot. >> if done properly and regulated tested and taxed if you do it the right way this will become a multibillion dollar industry.

>> reporter: een.ian james >> reporter: ian james is executive director of an organization he's been running out of his home for the past year. this is not your grandfather's ballot initiative. far from it. responsible ohio has a whopping $20 million budget. >> we're going to have television, direct mail, the data analytics is very expensive. >> being bankrolled by some of ohio's biggest. from nick lachey to oscar robinson. and bobby george who owns 18 restaurants in ohio. >> are you passionate about the subject of legalizing marijuana or are you passion at about the

financial implication it has? >> i'm passionate about both. i love ohio. >> and then there's allen mooney, a minister and financial advisor. >> i think it's going to be bigger than gm and the automotive industries in the state. >> billion with a b? >> b. wallets hasn't begun to wake up and realize the possibilities we have. >> mooney's corn fields outside columbus would be only one of ten sites in the state to be able to grow cannabis. >> i've had people offer me ten times what i've already invested to buy out my interest. by november, without growing one plant the day this passes the ballot each partnership is worth

over a billion. >> if i came to you and said i give you $100 million for your be portion you would walk away? >> yeah, already have. >> signature-gatherers are not required to discuss details with signers. this kind of investor backed initiative has happened before. in 2009, a small group of investors bank rolled a measure to going the exclusive directors of casinos in ohio. >> with full disclosure of who our investment groups are and also the plans for what they envision. >> reporter: just because you're being transparent about who the investors are though, still doesn't justify to a lot of people the fact that this very small elite wealthy group

is essentially monopolizing control of grow operation for a year. >> it's not a monopoly. >> didn't they all contribute to your pac to make sure you can create a strong robust campaign to get them what they want which is control of this land. >> it's to reform the execution to control the growth and sale of marijuana. you either go through the legislative process which is not going to happen or you put this issue on the ballot. >> reporter: back in cleveland, bobby george says his motivation was in part by big returns. he is after all a businessman. >> why are the writers of this amendment the sole ash tert sole arbiters

of this initiative? >> if the citizens pass it it's their opinion. >> but they won't have the opportunity to make money off of it. >> anyone can open up retail, anyone can open up a facility that does marijuana-infused products. >> but they can't grow. >> every industry is limited. >> and that has at least one farmer lit up. >> we take pride in the quality of our product. >> katie gives us a tour of her boss's sustainable aquaponics farm. outside columbus. she says she and her bosses are constantly innovating and next would be cannabis. >> as a farm he i see it's

secluding all of the farmers in ohio pretty much. >> she says she constant possibly afford to be an investor. >> it's flying in the face of competition, even a chance to put your business out there and they take that away completely. >> it's incredibly rare for a ballot measure to write into a state's constitution specific locations or areas where only a business can operate. and then those locations to be owned and operateby the funders of the initiative. >> reporter: liz ashley white is a reporter for the center for milk integrity in washington d.c. which has been investigating this issue along with "america tonight." up for a vote in 2014. >> what we found was that most of the money in those expensive campaigns come from big business

or big trade groups who are largely successful. they won 96% of the time. in defending their interests in the ballot measure process. >> with but f. lee white says what responsible ohio is doing is unique. even by these money standards and she says the voters she talked to either didn't know or didn't care about the fine print. >> i at any time see anyone read the whole thing. most people who signed it who talked to me said they didn't have any idea what it said. >> also wants to legalize marijuana in ohio but his rival group hopes to defeat responsible ohio. >> our position is that if we allow everyone who wants to grow commercially to get a license it would be easier for the government to track and regulate that, it will work on

eliminating the black market. >> he wants his own initiative approved for 2016 ballot. he bank rolled to a half a million dollars. >> you say that was fundamentally wrong but isn't it fundamentally what the democratic system is about? you create an initiative, you get voters to sign onto it, you get on the ballot and let the voters decide? there's nothing hidden from the voters. they have the ability to read the ballot measure and make a choice. >> the idea of free-determining who is allowed to grow commercially by requiring them to invest in the campaign and so forth is just the wrong way to go about it in general. too many people get shut out. the problem is they are trying to block everyone else out including the people who have actually advanced cannabis you culture and industry to the point it is now. who frankly don't have millions of dollars to write their own initiative like this.

>> he says there's no initiative to restrict marijuana growth. >> it's about do we want to fundamentally change the foundational document of our state to allow for takeovers of whole industries. wheys next, water corn, soybeans, where does it stop? >> it stops with the voters. they have eyes and they'll read the ballot initiative and decide. >> i agree. i think in november they will vote no. >> "america tonight's" lisa fletcher with us. is there any risk to this when you look at the polling on the issuing e-issue? >> well it is true that the polls show, that most responsible voters want the chance to legalize marijuana. some of them have purchased that land or they have purchased options on that land. they all stand to lose millions if voters don't approve the

amendment. >> these options are interesting, i was recently in washington state lots of money for proponents for stronger gun control, you could see that any side could win on this if they had big money. >> big money has a significant influence in the initiative process and anybody who participates in initiatives will tell you that this isn't their first choice. their first choice is to go through the legislature to get bills passed that reflect what the citizens want. purpose of the initiative process is when the legislature isn't doing what the citizens want get signatures and but a initiative on the ballot. >> lawmakers that kind of do nothing on a lot of hot issues across this country. >> i agree we are going to see it on gun control gmos,

marijuana and a lot of hot button issues where lawmakers don't want to take a stand because it could put them in jeopardy one way or another. >> "america tonight's" lisa fletcher, thanks so much. up next, financial ruin at the hands of developers. could relief be ton way for florida homeowners? "america tonight's" sheila macvicar speaking to homeowners forced to sell blof below market value. a hitch hop artist hip hop artist and. can chicago heal from its dark history of police torture? find out on

aljazeera.com/americatonight. is

>> fast forward to home sweet home. in florida hurricanes and a real estate bust forced developers into bankruptcy and homeowners into foreclosure. but the plan to protect investors allowed investors to effectively steal homes. in an "america tonight"

investigation, sheila macvicar talked to one woman who was forced out of her condo. >> in 2006 amanda gonzalez bought what she thought was her slice of the american dream. >> i never missed a payment never intended to. >> so gonzalez was shocked when she learned the complex was terminated, be turning into condos. lawyers in miami the very same people who sold it to her. >> these two miami lawyers sold you the condominium and now they're turning around and telling you you can no longer own the condominium? >> we can't own it and they will be buying it. >> at a price they set? >> price they set. this was a forced sale. >> could you have held out could you have refused to sell? >> no. >> why not? >> they told me that the termination was done and recorded as of may of 2014, they

told me they owned the unit since then. >> even though you didn't sign a piece of paper? >> i signed nothing. >> under a state law if a bulk buyer owns 80% of the units they can force termination. the termination goes through unless 10% of the owners objects. if the bulk buyers own more than 90%, there is nothing absolutely nothing an individual owner can do. >> lots of problems there. fast forward and florida's governor reinforcement signed into law new protections for condo owners, making terminations more difficult. one requires a bulk owner to pay the original purchase price of a unit if it wants to terminate ownership. up next, driven osucceed. "america tonight's" sarah hoye with philadelphia's freeway spreading his message of

inspiration in the inner city. and seven months after the death of britt niz brittany menarz. inside the right to die movement, with the man behind the movement, brittany menard's husband.

>> in the u.s., a recent study found that if you're born in poverty, the chances of climbing the socioeconomic ladder are very slim. the city rid manied with violence and drugs the situation seems helpless. but there's a hip hop star that made it out and he's become a

beacon of hope and inspiration. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: leslie pridgedon always wanted to be heard. growing up in one of the nation's inner cities, he seemed invisible. >> i wanted people to hear, i wanted my voice to be heard and it definitely was hard. it wasn't an easy thing. you know? and it just motivated me to keep pushing and keep pushing. >> after his parents split he turned to selling drugs to help make ends meet. fighting his way from notorious north philly to become freeway. one of the city's best known rap artists. a job that was as lard as the philly streets that forged him. >> when i was growing up, i wanted to get money you know, that's who i had to look up to.

>> reporter: the 36 grow up in thegrew up inthe midst of the crack epidemic. and corner boys, the front line new tenants of the drug trade like depicted in hbo's new crime drama, the wire, were out in force. we first grew up with freeway in march. >> what was it like being here living here in the height of the crack epidemic? >> it was pandemonium everybody out for theirself. at that time i was going to high school and my mom and dad did the best that they could do, but it wasn't much and i wanted more. and people was driving to school, i'm taking the train. i wanted those things. that's what i did to get them. >> he said that although there's a perception that the crack epidemic is over, there's not much that it's been changed. >> reporter: people think that

are cak is not a problem. what is the reality? >> crack is still here. we don't got to go that far it's like i'm pretty sure we walk two blocks down that way there's people outside that use drugs. they use crack. people outside selling crack. it's everywhere. >> just down the block his description came to life. >> i told you to walk ten blocks that way or ten blocks that way to see? you don't have to go that far. center city philadelphia, people sleeping on the ground. people affected by just life in general, period. just life dealt them a bad deck of cards you know. >> it's those same streets that freeway uses to paint his lyrics. >> y'all people got bundle up

and i bet it be a hotter summer, grass an onion cop's sole purpose is to lock us up and throw away the key. that's what i was really going through at the time. >> he did time for violence. at 23 he caught the attention of jayz. he says his time behind bars and his faith turned him from the past he was on. islam has been a part of his life since he was a teen yet it wasn't until adulthood that faith changed his direction. >> i made money from drugs i was hurting people, that's all that i knew and god gave me a shot.

god gave me a chance to do something positive and it's a blessing and i want to keep moving forward. >> reporter: today he's an independent artist with his hands if a number of projects. like the be documentary pull of gravity. that follows three inmates as they transition from prison to society. and then he launched his best beard cream. able to overcome the pull of his environment, he's talking about his experiences and trying to influence others to do the right thing. >> from where i come from, i believe it's importantly to touch the people. things that are free, things that are real, you are touching people you can affect the people. i'm from the hood and i made it out. i'm successful. if they can see me touch me hear from me, maybe i can inspire

them to do the same thing about. >> with the recent uprisings in ferguson, new york, baltimore it drove freeway. >> what message is that sending? >> these are our people being treated unjust. it's not right. somebody has to do something somebody has to stand back. >> take back baltimore. take back baltimore. >> people before us fought for it, we're fighting and i'm pretty sure after we're gone there's still people to come after us to fight for it. we have to keep fighting for it. >> he marched for the family of freddy gray. >> you have to be able to zeal with a lot of things, you know?

you can't lecture -- you might wake up and have a bad day. you can't let that affect your job. you have to deal with people and treat people justly. >> on the flip side some like fox news's geraldo rivera says, hip hop music damages the people. >> because you and your lyrics, what are you saying to those critics? >> what are they doing? at least i'm trying to do something positive. at least i'm trying to give back. at least i'm out marching with the people listening to the people. trying to get the people suggestions. what are they doing? >> freeway now is in perpetual

motion. >> if there are things that you want people to take away, that know about you as an individual, what is it? >> that i'm here, i'm a child of the ghetto, i made a difference, my life was (bleep) up, and if i can do it, anybody and everybody can do it too. >> sarah hoye, al jazeera philadelphia. >> and that's "america tonight." tell us what you think. at aljazeera.com/americatonight. you can also talk to us on twitter or our facebook page. be sure to come back. we'll have more of "america tonight" tomorrow.

>> brittany menard's decision to take her own life last year. sparked a national debate. >> brittany didn't wan't to die the brain tumor was killing her, she simply took control over how that process would go. >> now see what her husband is doing to keep his promise to change "right to die" laws nationwide. america tonight only on al jazeera america. >> i'm ali velshi. "on target" tonight. as they try to reform the ranks and weed out bad cops. plus under the gun. police officers put to the test with split second decisions on the use of deadly force. there's a new mandate for the nation's police departments. evolve. now. tonight i will bring you police chiefs from across the