Colorado Voters Reject Plan to Increase Cannabis Taxes for Education Agency

Colorado voters have rejected a proposal to raise taxes on adult-use cannabis in the state from 15% to 20% as part of a plan to create an independent education agency, Denver Business Journal reports. Proponents of the proposition conceded at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday when polls showed 54% of voters had voted no on the plan.

With 86% of precincts reporting, the margin had not changed significantly, with 54.5% of voters rejecting the initiative and 45.5% in support, according to Ballotpedia tracking.

Opponents of the plan included teachers’ unions, the cannabis industry, and some anti-tax conservatives who argued that the measure would create a new bureaucracy that would possibly be unconstitutional.