Colorado Reveals Where Weed Money To Be Spent: Schools, Clinics
DENVER (CBS4) - After profiting more than $100 million in taxes on legal marijuana sales, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a budget that dictates where that money would be devoted. The excess funds will be going to schools, housing programs and nurses trained specifically to deal with the opioid epidemic.
To be exact, the legal marijuana tax made the state of Colorado $105 million during the 2016-17 fiscal year. That figure seems primed to be elevated for next year, as marijuana sales are up 30% for the first few months of this year via Vice.
From that chunk of money, $15.3 million of it is going to housing for those with "behavioral health needs, and for individuals experiencing or at-risk of homelessness." The office of the governor said that the money should help "reduce incarceration, hospitalization, and homelessness for many of Colorado's most vulnerable citizens."
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Another million, spread over the next two years, will be devoted to nurses who will be specifically trained to best deal with the opioid epidemic in the hardest hit counties of Colorado.
There were trepidations over whether President Donald Trump or his administration would step in and start to repeal the legal marijuana market, but that's yet to happen and business is good.