Under the long-awaited legalization bill unveiled May 7, just 35 percent of cannabis taxes will go to the state's general fund, and 10 percent will go to a separate budget stabilization fund. Another 25 percent will go to a grant program that aims to help communities hit hard by poverty, violence and the war on drugs; and 20 percent will go to mental health and substance-abuse treatment. The other 10 percent goes to law enforcement and drug-treatment education. Roughly $500M in revenue is projected.
A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.