While the topic of legalizing weed continues to be hotly debated, Pueblo County – the home of the world’s biggest outdoor marijuana farm – is trying to do some good with some of this revenue. Last year, voters in Pueblo County voted on a new excise tax on marijuana growers that would go toward a college scholarship program, according to Fusion.
Starting in 2017, a projected $700,000 will go to seniors graduating from Pueblo high school who are looking to attend community colleges or state universities. By 2020, the tax is expected to raise $3.5 million. And a group who is bound to benefit from this new scholarship is Latinos. The county of 162,000 is 43 percent Latino.
Some were critical that funding scholarships through marijuana would send the wrong message to 18-year-olds who aren’t legally able to smoke weed. But Tyler Henson, president of the Colorado Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, said this isn’t any different than scholarships that are financed by alcohol companies, the Associated Press reports.
Local farmers have also complained about the new tax, but Drug Policy Alliance’s Art Way believes that other cities in Colorado will follow suit.