CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Evanston will devote sales taxes it receives from recreational marijuana starting in the new year to pay for reparations.
All of the taxes Evanston takes in from sales at recreational marijuana dispensaries will go into a fund to pay for reparations for members of the suburb's black community.
The City Council voted 8-1 in favor of the fund, which will be capped at $10 million.
5th Ward resident Natasha Waldron told City Council members the move will help her family, who suffered as her mother grappled with drug addition as a young woman.
"We are rebuilding from ashes, from the war on drugs," she said. "So things like this are responsible for helping our people kind of pull up out of that."
A committee of residents will explore how the money could best be spent to support the black community through economic incentives, housing, and education.