On Election Day a few weeks ago Cascade County voters voted to approve a 3% local option tax on recreational adult use marijuana sales countywide.
On the same ballot, Great Falls voters approved commercial marijuana activities, weed shops etc., within Great Falls city limits.
In light of those decisions by local voters I will be pursuing an initiative to designate all of the tax revenue generated through weed sales coming to the City of Great Falls to go to funding our city’s public safety needs – police, fire department, and courts.
A couple of things to note regarding this:
- Current zoning regulations limit commercial marijuana activities in Great Falls to areas zoned Industrial 1 and Industrial 2. Considering the people’s vote on this issue, I believe that it is appropriate to continue the zoning conversation and get as much public input from stakeholders as possible going forward.
- Only 45% of the 3% tax collected by the County will be distributed by formula to the incorporated towns within Cascade County, of which Great Falls is the largest, so revenue expectations should be tempered. This isn’t a magic money tree.
I am working on getting some solid numbers on what we can expect given the current and projected potential revenue from weed sales and will update the public as soon as possible.
Well, Rick Tryon, the tax money collected from these pot sales SHOULD go to law enforcement, the courts and fire department since there will be an increase in the use of these departments due to more drug use and arrests..ie driving under the influence, thefts etc. ( since pot does alter the brain. We all know the ONLY reason the city proposed this whole thing was for the tax money…and people were foolish enough to vote for it. Society has really lost their integrity and the ability to make sound moral decisions.
We can take Great Falls off the list of best places to live. Julie Parker, resident of more than 46 years.
I think most of the revenue generated from the sales of legalized marijuana should go towards treatment of those individuals with a diagnosed cannabis use disorder. It can be difficult to get insurance companies, even Medicaid, at times, to pay for treatment of cannabis addiction. I’m not saying that all whom imbibe become addicts anymore than all who drink alcohol became alcoholics. However, there are the unfortunate few that will become addicted and treatment is the answer. This isn’t a situation of lost moral integrity anymore than diabetes is. Addiction is a disease just like diabetes or cancer. More law enforcement won’t change that.