{"id":75683,"date":"2024-05-28T07:38:47","date_gmt":"2024-05-28T15:38:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/05\/28\/missouri-marijuana-revenue-is-funding-veterans-programs-drug-treatment-and-public-defender-services\/"},"modified":"2024-05-28T12:45:50","modified_gmt":"2024-05-28T20:45:50","slug":"missouri-marijuana-revenue-is-funding-veterans-programs-drug-treatment-and-public-defender-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/05\/28\/missouri-marijuana-revenue-is-funding-veterans-programs-drug-treatment-and-public-defender-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Missouri Marijuana Revenue Is Funding Veterans Programs, Drug Treatment And Public Defender Services"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is so rewarding to see the impact of this voter-approved program on organizations that provide vital services to Missourians.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since recreational weed was legalized in 2022, it has led to more than $19 million going towards three causes\u2014supporting veterans, expanding substance use treatment programs and adding to the Missouri Public Defenders System\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is so rewarding to see the impact of this voter-approved program on organizations that provide vital services to Missourians,\u201d said Amy Moore, director of the Division of Cannabis Regulation, which is within the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.<\/p>\n

The constitutional amendment Missouri voters approved in November 2022 to legalize recreational marijuana also\u00a0established funds for the three causes.<\/p>\n

Last fall, each of these three programs received\u00a0$1.3 million<\/a>. Then earlier this month, DHSS transferred an additional $5.1 million for each.<\/p>\n

The funds<\/a> going to the Missouri Veterans Commission are specifically meant to pay for health care and other services for military veterans and their dependent families, according to the division.<\/p>\n

The public defender system\u2019s funds will pay for legal assistance for low-income Missourians.<\/p>\n

And, DHSS will use its fund to operate a grant program to increase access to drug addiction treatment with an emphasis on reintegrating recipients into their local communities by supporting job placement, housing and counseling.<\/p>\n

In January,\u00a0Moore told state lawmakers\u00a0that recreational cannabis sales had generated $58 million in revenue, which includes sales tax and annual fees marijuana businesses pay the state.<\/p>\n

So far, $8.2 million has gone to pay for the state\u2019s operation costs of regulating the recreational marijuana industry\u2014for things like salaries or professional services.<\/p>\n

After operational costs, the next draw on the fund is expenses incurred by the\u00a0court system for expunging certain marijuana offenses\u00a0from people\u2019s criminal records.<\/p>\n

After that, revenues are split between veterans, substance use treatment programs and public defenders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look forward to watching this impact grow,\u201d Moore said,\u00a0\u201cand are grateful to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was first published by Missouri Independent.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Survey Says: No To Letting Big Industry Shape Marijuana Legalization Policies (Op-Ed)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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The post Missouri Marijuana Revenue Is Funding Veterans Programs, Drug Treatment And Public Defender Services<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: Missouri Marijuana Revenue Is Funding Veterans Programs, Drug Treatment And Public Defender Services<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt is so rewarding to see the impact of this voter-approved program on organizations that provide vital services to Missourians.\u201d By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent Since recreational weed was legalized in 2022, it has led to more than $19 million going towards three causes\u2014supporting veterans, expanding substance use treatment programsContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75683"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75683"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75684,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75683\/revisions\/75684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}