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Denver Officials Discuss Spending Pot Taxes

DENVER (CBS4/AP) - Denver officials talked about how to spent marijuana taxes Wednesday morning.

The City Council's Government and Finance Committee discussed pot spending at its Wednesday morning meeting.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock has proposed spending $3.35 million in marijuana tax revenues on business regulation and public safety.

The mayor's plan includes about $746,000 on youth and public education about marijuana. That would include Denver's "Know The Law" campaign on responsible pot use.

At the meeting officials discussed hiring 22 employees to monitor the marijuana industry and launching a campaign to discourage use of pot by people under 21.

"Education was the one area where we struggled the most. I think there's some additional work to be done to really know what we're responding to, the environment that we're responding to," said Brandon Hanlon, Denver Budget Director. "Because I think the largest priority that everyone had around the table is, we want something that's effective. We don't just want to add money to education and hope that there will be an impact. We want to make sure we have the appropriate information to have a thoughtful campaign … that there will be an impact to those issues that come up."

Denver voters in November approved a 3.5 percent sales tax on retail marijuana sales. That's in addition to state taxes of 17.9 percent on recreational pot.

Colorado recreational pot industry is largely concentrated in Denver.

LINK: Know The Law

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(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.) 

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