Portland, Oregon unveiled a multi-faceted campaign to end traffic fatalities in the municipality – and a large chunk of the program’s funding is coming from cannabis tax revenue.
For the last few years, residents age 21 or older have been able to purchase recreational marijuana, and the resulting tax income has resulted in a nice chunk of change.
$300,000 in cannabis taxes will be used to fund “Struck” – a public safety initiative dedicated to educating the public on the importance of safe driving.
The campaign is the largest public safety initiative ever launched by the Portland Bureau of Transportation.
“If we are going to reduce fatalities, we need to change how people think when they get behind the wheel,” said City Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who oversees PBOT. “It used to be socially acceptable to drive without a seat belt or drive when people were not quite sober. But with new laws and education campaigns, we changed people’s behavior.”
In addition to the public education funding, the campaign is also initiating renovations to several dozen city streets that have the highest rates of accidents and collisions.