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Phoenix nonproft plans to seek grant from fund created by marijuana legalization

Proposition 207 authors carved out money from the legalization and regulation of recreational marijuana for what they called a justice reinvestment program.

A local nonprofit is asking people to tell them how cash from a namesake fund should be spent.

Project Roots plans to seek a grant once government officials send out a request for proposals.

State law says justice reinvestment programs can be an effort to address the underlying causes of crime or a push to reduce the prison population.

Right now the nonprofit’s Executive Director Dionne Washington is inviting people to voice their thoughts at listening sessions scheduled for each Thursday in September.

“We want to know, what does community justice reinvestment look like to them?” said Washington.

State law breaks down how money from the justice reinvestment fund gets divided.

Seventy percent is supposed to finance grants to nonprofits from state and county health departments. 

The rest is to be spent on public health issues affecting Arizona.

Matthew Casey has won Edward R. Murrow awards for hard news and sports reporting since he joined KJZZ as a senior field correspondent in 2015.