FBI Honored Program, Didn't Realize Pot Sales Funded It

The Denver FBI honored a youth dropout prevention group Thursday, apparently without realizing it's partially funded with taxes from the marijuana industry. The US Justice Department, the FBI's parent agency, considers the voter-approved marijuana industry operating in Colorado and other states illegal, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions has indicated he wants stronger enforcement of federal law. But Thursday's episode reaffirmed that revenue from sales of the drug has become so widely dispersed that it can be tough to keep track of the scores of entities counting on it for at least some support, the AP reports.

Youth on Record Executive Director Jami Duffy mentioned the funding the group receives as she accepted the Director's Community Leadership Award at Denver FBI headquarters. "If anybody asks you where that money is going, you can say, 'I know for sure that some of it is going to Youth on Record and the 1,000 teenagers that they serve,'" Duffy said as FBI Special Agent in Charge Calvin Shivers and other officials stood nearby. She said after her acceptance speech that the program, which focuses on music, received $75,000 in marijuana tax revenue last year from the city of Denver and is expecting an additional $148,000 this year. (More marijuana stories.)