Cannabis Funding Provides Scholarships to 600 Students

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]C[/dropcap]olorado has been known for giving back to its community through legal cannabis revenue, having provided funding for everything from cannabis tax research and anti-bullying campaigns to the homeless and public projects. Now, a cannabis scholarship is being provided to 600 lucky students in Pueblo, Colorado.

According to The Pueblo Chieftan, there is about $750,000 in funding available to students who are about to graduate high school. The Pueblo County Scholarship Fund has received an estimated $700,000 in funding from the cannabis excise tax and $113,981 from the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship program. The funding for these scholarships is generated from cannabis revenue, and 10 percent of the money was collected in excise tax from cannabis and goes to the Pueblo Hispanic Education Foundation, who then gives out the scholarships.

“This year, we are increasing the dollar amount from $420,000 last year to the $700,000 from Pueblo County,” said Beverly Duran, executive director of the Pueblo Hispanic Education Foundation. “This is really exciting. We continue to award these students through graduation.”

According to Fox 32, the excise tax is levied on cannabis that is sold as wholesale from cultivators and distributors to dispensaries.

As revenue from the cannabis industry increases every year, so too will the money awarded in cannabis scholarships. This, along with the other good work done by the tax money from the Colorado cannabis industry, is helping to change the way legalization is publicly perceived.