Why cant the marijuana tax money help the teachers on strike?

As teachers in Denver complete day 2 of their strike, a big question many ask during this time is why can’t the marijuana money tax help them?

The money was intended for schools, but not necessarily teacher salaries.

In 2018, recreational marijuana earned 266.5 million dollars in tax revenue for the state of Colorado. That may seem like a big number, but the director of the UCCS economic forum, Tatiana Bailey explains, “it’s a drop in the bucket.”

She says, “the roughly 260 million in tax revenue is a very small proportion of the total education budget.”

When the number is broken down and compared to the state’s total education budget at about $5.2 billion, the marijuana tax revenue is just one percent of that.

Bailey explains, “when it’s less than one percent it’s not going to make a difference and you know, not only with salaries but with some of the other demands that they have.”

Recreational marijuana tax revenue was never intended for teacher salaries to begin with. When Amendment 64 was passed, legalizing recreational marijuana, the tax revenue was meant for school construction projects, local government funding and other drug prevention programs in schools.

Even if the sale of recreational marijuana skyrocketed, Bailey explains it’s unlikely it would ever meet the needs of the education budget. She says, “our revenues are not going to increase significantly. Why? Because we have more states that are legalizing. I really don’t see marijuana being the answer to our education woes.”

Ten states and Washington D.C. have legalized recreational marijuana.