The City of Rockford voted this week to divert funds from the 3% cannabis sales tax towards the city's budget deficit.
Some community advocates are concerned that move could erode trust on communities impacted by the "War on Drugs." That includes Dr. Litesa Wallace, a former representative of the 67th District in the Illinois General Assembly.
"Unfortunately, there's a lot of mistrust by the communities that were affected by the War on Drugs," she told WNIJ in a phone interview after the vote.
She says that the city's efforts to restore that trust through its REGROW Grant Program has helped fund organizations including the AARC at Booker T. Washington Community Center and YMCA, among other agencies.
The diversion of the cannabis funds, along with personal spending reductions, is an effort by the city to prevent a $3.7 million budget deficit.
Supporters argue that without the diversion, the city would have raised taxes or cut city services.
Wallace says the cannabis fund diversion was the only proposal the city put towards fixing the gap, and that the city should have considered the other proposals mentioned in Monday's meeting.
Wallace also said that she hopes that the community can get involved in deciding how the funds get used going forward.
