Pot Of Gold? How Cannabis Taxes Are Funding Guaranteed Income in New Mexico
Albuquerque is giving $750 to low-income-families to help break the cycle of poverty
Taxes on cannabis are being deployed to pilot a guaranteed basic income program where more than 100 families will be given support of $750 per month for three years, no strings attached.
The initiative is taking place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is targeted at impoverished communities “negatively impacted by the criminalisation of marijuana”.
The city plans to raise more than $4 million per year on cannabis-related tax revenue. Half of that has been given to the Office of Equity and Inclusion to divide among low-income households and youth programs.
“This isn’t a handout, this is a hand up to families who don’t qualify a lot of times for regular entitlement programs. We can really take a stance on poverty, because that is the root cause of a lot of the things that we’re facing in our community when it comes to homelessness, crime,” said councillor Nichole Rogers.
The council was inspired by a similar initiative held in another city in New Mexico, Santa Fe, where 100 community college students aged 30 or under were given an income of $400 per month.
One anecdote from Santa Fe’s program highlighted by Rogers was a resident who was able to buy a car with the additional money which then led to them getting a higher paying job.
According to the study’s results, most of the funds (71%) were spent on household items and food. Students improved their housing conditions, full-time employment rose by 19%, and 30% of students completed their degrees during the program or shortly after. They also reported being able to save more and help family members. Time spent with children and parents also increased.
However, persistent systemic challenges like high housing costs, food insecurity and the fear of losing benefits still persisted.
Could cannabis taxes help fund universal basic income globally?