Supporters of California’s publicly funded After School Education and Safety programs — which educate and care for nearly 500,000 low-income elementary and middle school kids — were encouraged in 2016 when they heard and read the ads that supported the state’s ballot measure to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.
The good feeling didn’t reflect how they felt about cannabis. It came because the Yes on Proposition 64 campaign told voters — in advertising and in a statement printed on the official statewide ballot — that one of the first beneficiaries of tax revenue generated by regulated marijuana would be after school programs.
And those After School Education and Safety (ASES) programs really needed the help.