This Colorado town will use weed scholarships to put Latino students through college

*It’s all for the kids, right? VL

By Rafa Fernandez De Castro, Fusion (1.7 minute read)

Colorado is sparking one up for higher education.

Next year the city of Pueblo will earmark an estimated $700,000 in newly generated marijuana tax revenue to fund scholarships for low-income Latinos, who represent 43% of the county’s 162,000 population.

The scholarship program was born out of a November ballot initiative that asked voters if they supported a new excise tax on marijuana growers to support education, explains Beverly Duran, director of Pueblo Hispanic Education Foundation.

Duran says the money will go to Pueblo high school graduating seniors who are pursuing continued education at local community colleges and state universities. The scholarship fund is projected to grow up to 5% by 2020 and can be matched with grants in a town where only 21% of the population has a bachelor’s degree, according to the U.S. Census.

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