California: cannabis taxes not yet transferred to school support programs

One of the key arguments in favor of legalizing recreational cannabis in California concerned the redistribution of money earned from taxes on cannabis businesses. In fact, the proposed law envisaged that after-school education and safety programs (ASES), funded entirely by the state, would be the beneficiaries of a large part of the revenues linked to the cannabis industry. However, this has not been the case, according to an Entreprise-Record survey.

Medical cannabis had already been legal since 1996, making California a pioneer in the industry. However, the legalization doesn't always go as planned. In Canada, where cannabis has been legal since last October, the black market continues to capture a large part of the demand, mainly due to the fact that prohibitive prices in the legal trade.

Legal cannabis was supposed to be part of the solution to help these struggling programs stay afloat. Technically, these programs receive funding based on the number of children in their care. However, this money is not enough to allow educators to keep these programs open. For example, LA's BEST Afterschool Enrichment Program, which cares for 25,000 children, is now $1 million in debt.

Yet the economic gains are there. Since the state legalized recreational cannabis January 1, 2018, The company, which was authorized to produce, sell and consume the product, earned nearly $345 million. Even if this figure is far from the billion-dollar profit announced, it is still substantial. The state is not transparent enough about the way it spends public money, which Californians don't like.

The reason why schools haven't yet received their share of the revenue is based on a piece of language. Voters said «yes» to a proposed law allocating 60% of annual cannabis taxes to «youth education, prevention, early intervention and treatment». However, ASES programs were never specifically mentioned, making legal action impossible. To remedy this, government member Kevin McCarty is trying to pass the law AB 1085, that would guarantee priority to ASES programs in the distribution of state cannabis taxes. «When voters passed Proposition 64, they were promised that the revenue generated would go to school support programs. These programs prevent and reduce substance use among young people, and help lower school dropout rates.».

Schools have alerted the government to the imminent closure of some of these programs, if they do not receive more resources. Some schools are considering charging parents, which would increase initial inequalities, since these programs are aimed at children in difficulty, and who come from disadvantaged families.