Illinois officials announced on Thursday that they are awarding $45 million in grants, using funds generated from taxes on adult-use cannabis sales, to support community reinvestment in areas “hardest hit by the failed war on drugs.”
This is the second round of funding that’s being made available through the state’s Restore, Reinvest, and Renew (R3) program, which was established under Illinois’s adult-use cannabis legalization law.
The $45 million will support 148 programs run by organizations operating on relatively small budgets in communities designated as socioeconomically disadvantaged. The state first announced that applications for this grant round were open in December.
“A modern and equitable cannabis industry requires equity, opportunity, and a robust investment in righting the wrongs of the war on drugs,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) said in a press release. “That means investing in our underserved communities who’ve gone far too long without the funding and resources they need and deserve to heal and prosper.”
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