Douglas County schools need additional funding? And a proposal to increase our property taxes is extremely unpopular, according to recent polling?

Why not reconsider a safe and sustainable means of generating revenue for school districts and local government services that won’t cost most residents a single cent? I’m talking about reconsidering commercial (including medical) cannabis sales at vetted locations within Douglas County.

While nearby counties like Arapahoe are reaping in millions every year, why is Douglas County still afraid — or ignoring — taxing legal cannabis sales to generate millions of much needed dollars for our schools? The jury is out — cannabis is safe for most adults. States ranging from Montana to Mississippi have legalized and now sell the plant since Douglas County voters last visited cannabis prohibition. Our county is large and expansive, certainly there are appropriate locations to sell cannabis that are not near sensitive uses like churches, schools and parks.

There’s nothing blue or red about this idea, only green. And lots of it in the form of millions of dollars that can be solely dedicated for much sought after improvements to Douglas County’s education system and building new infrastructure without raising property taxes.

Nate Kaplan

Highlands Ranch