L.A. Considers Using Cannabis Taxes to Help Homeless

Ever since legal cannabis started popping up in cities and states across America, local governments have been faced with a very pleasant problem—what to do with all the money. Colorado has used their tax revenue for schools and education, and recently, Los Angeles has come up with their own creative use for revenue—to help the homeless population.

According to the San Francisco Gate, city officials in L.A. are thinking about implementing a fifteen percent sales tax on medical cannabis. The proceeds of this tax would go towards a $2 billion housing project for the city’s homeless.

“Even as our economy improves, we do not anticipate having an additional $1.78 billion over the next ten years to dedicate for this purpose,” Chief Administrative Officer Miguel Santana stated in a recent city council meeting regarding the decision to use cannabis sales tax for this new purpose.

The tax is currently estimated to bring in $17 million a year, and is estimated to be much more than that if recreational cannabis is legalized in California. This could drastically improve the quality of care and amount of housing available for homeless in the area.

However, despite how good this would make the cannabis industry look and the good it could do, there are still those who oppose this new tax. Medical patients complain about the rising cost of medicine, and some fear that this will drive cannabis users back to the black market. However, this could also be helped if recreational cannabis was legalized, allowing medical prices to be lowered.

No decision on this issue will be reached until July, and the recreational issue won’t come to a vote until November, so this issue is still up in the air and subject to much debate. While there are certainly pros and cons to this solution, the fact that it is being considered is further evidence of a forward-thinking trend when it comes to cannabis revenue.