CINCINNATI — Cincinnati City Councilman Mark Jeffreys and other community and faith leaders gathered at New Prospect Baptist Church Thursday to propose the creation of the Harm to Hope Cannabis Reinvestment Fund.
The proposal looks to create a restricted fund using Cincinnati's annual recreational marijuana tax revenue — approximately $2.5 million this year — to fund record expungement, lead abatement, youth employment and workforce development programs in neighborhoods affected by past marijuana criminal penalties.
"The usage is the same between whites and Blacks, but the criminalization is so disproportionate," said Damon Lynch, pastor of New Prospect Baptist Church. "People have gone to prison. They've gone to jail. Their families have been destroyed."
WATCH: What to know about the proposed Harm to Hope Cannabis Reinvestment Fund
As recently as 2018, according to the ACLU, Black people in Ohio were 3.4-times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana possession, despite usage rates remaining similar.
The initiative would establish a community advisory board to oversee fund distribution, similar to the city's Human Services Fund structure, Jeffreys said. The board would provide recommendations on funding priorities and ensure accountability as revenue flows in annually.
David Whitehead, president of the NAACP Cincinnati chapter, emphasized targeting resources to communities that experienced the greatest harm.
"We want to make sure that those funds are earmarked and targeted to those that have been harmed, and we know and can easily identify the disproportion," Whitehead said.
"Cincinnati has an opportunity. We are a progressive city," Lynch said. "This is an opportunity to take these dollars, target them to the hardest hit communities, that we continue to rebuild our city."
Trevor Reed, executive director of the Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio's Holloman Center for Social Justice, said the organization launched an urban expungement clinic last year.
"It is not an accident that we have created policies in this city that have absolutely disproportionately impacted our Black community and have devastated families for generations," Reed said.
The clinic has already helped more than 1,200 people seek record expungement, Reed said, contributing over $130,000 to the effort and partnering with the Hamilton County Public Defender's Office.
Jeffreys said the fund would target specific neighborhoods like Avondale, Bond Hill and Roselawn.
Lynch emphasized the need for a trusted, empowered advisory board that community members feel comfortable approaching with their stories and needs.
"We don't want to put together an advisory board that has no power, that is not listened to," Lynch said.
Jeffreys said he plans to introduce the idea during a city council meeting in the coming weeks. If his fellow council members are on board, he said the next step would be passing an ordinance and appointing the advisory board.
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