Ever since legalization first took off around the country, cities have been using the revenue from pot sales for good causes, such as funding education and rehabilitation programs. Now, a city in the Denver area has decided to use their cannabis money to help out the homeless.
According to the Huffington Post, Aurora plans to use the $1.5 million they have generated in from cannabis taxes to help out with the local homeless problem. $200,000 of the money will go to a group called the Colfax Community Network, an organization that funds families living in motels. City Council will then evaluate the progress of this organization before deciding if they get more money next year.
The Comitis Crisis Center and Aurora Mental Health are to be given another chunk of the money. They will use $30,000 and $44,000 respectively to purchase vans that will be used for doing homeless outreach.
Aurora will also be setting aside $680,000 for nonprofits, and will be allocating another $2 million for a new recreation center.
“We wanted to be able to show citizens that we are having a positive impact on the community and point to specific projects or initiatives to where that money is going to,” Bob Roth, a City Council member, explained regarding the charitable use of cannabis funds.
Los Angeles already implemented a similar program, using all the funds from their 15% sales tax to help the homeless, and this certainly is not the first charitable act that Colorado has done when it comes to how they are using their funds. This is also a great remedy for those who worried that legal cannabis would cause more homelessness, due to people moving to the area looking for opportunities.
With any luck this trend will catch on, and cities across the country will be using cannabis funds to drastically reduce the nationwide homelessness epidemic.
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