The Portland City Council approved an amendment to a proposed budget on Thursday that would divest cannabis tax revenue funds from the city’s police department. The budget as a whole has not yet passed and will be taken up again next week.
Amid widespread calls to defund law enforcement in response to police killings of black Americans such as George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, the local lawmakers approved about $27 million in cuts as part of the spending legislation. City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly voted against the full package, however, arguing that it didn’t make enough cuts to police.
The Minority Cannabis Business Association (MCBA) had called on the Council to stop appropriating cannabis tax dollars to the department in a press release on Wednesday, emphasizing that a significant amount of that revenue is funding law enforcement despite the city passing a measure in 2016 stipulating that those funds should be designated for substance misuse treatment, public safety and small business development.
According to a 2019 report from the Portland City Auditor, 79 percent of cannabis tax revenue has gone to public safety, including about 46 percent directly to the Portland Police Bureau.
Read more at marijuanamoment.net