Ann Arbor, Michigan is getting a large chunk of cannabis excise tax revenue to put towards a social equity program.
In total, the city is getting $476,023 to support social equity and those most impacted by the War on Drugs. Ann Arbor’s city council just voted that the city administrator will account for the new revenue and figure out where to direct it. The money will be earmarked for alternative public safety and community support strategies.
These alternative strategies have been gaining support since the death of George Floyd last summer and the ensuing Black Lives Matter protests. Programs like mental health responders checking out emergency situations, substance use prevention, recovery support, youth programs and the expungement of records will be considered. Additionally, there will be resources for those who have been incarcerated for cannabis.
“We in Ann Arbor have long recognized that the War on Drugs was a failure and worse than that,” the city’s Mayor Christopher Taylor said. “Frankly, it was an effort that destroyed communities and individuals’ lives, and the legalization of marijuana has been a small step to reverse the tide.
“The use of these monies, which result from marijuana’s legalization, in connection with restorative and alternate strategies for public safety and community support is, I think, entirely proper, and it’s something that I’m glad that we’re going to be doing going forward.”
The plan is to use this money to reinvest in the community and soothe some of the past harms that have been done by cannabis criminalization.
Ann Arbor aims to use the funds to intentionally reinvest in the community, acknowledging past harms of marijuana criminalization, the council resolution states.
“Federal laws related to cannabis/marijuana have disproportionately targeted people of color, disadvantaged communities of color and people of lower socio-economic status,” the city council’s resolution states. It also claims that these laws have “punitively impacted generations of individuals in terms of public housing and student financial aid eligibility, employment opportunities, child custody determinations and immigration status.”
