DENVER ― A Colorado county that boasts the world’s largest outdoor marijuana farm and has been actively courting the new pot industry has approved the world’s first marijuana-funded college scholarship.
Pueblo County voters approved the pot tax by a 20-point margin Tuesday. The 5 percent excise tax on marijuana growers is expected to raise about $3.5 million a year by 2020, with the money available for any high school senior in the county who attends one of two public colleges in the county.
The scholarship awards will depend on how many students apply, but county planners are projecting about 400 students a year will get scholarships of about $1,000 each per year. The awards are the world’s first scholarships funded entirely by pot taxes.
“It’s a landmark vote,” said Brian Vicente, a Denver-based marijuana attorney who wrote Colorado’s 2012 legalization measure. “This is the first time you have marijuana tax money being used directly for scholarships, and that’s pretty remarkable.”
Pueblo’s booming pot industry didn’t oppose the measure, which brings their tax rate from 15 percent to 20 percent phased in over five years. But it also puts the recipients in an odd place—they’ll be having college bills paid by a product they’re not supposed to touch until they’re 21.
“It’ll be interesting to see how they balance that, telling kids to stay away from these products until their 21 but creating a reliance on the product paying for their schooling,” said Tyler Henson, president of the Colorado Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, which represents growers and retailers, along with other business that work with the marijuana industry.
Scholarship backers insist the fund isn’t any different than the scholarships already funded by alcohol companies.
