CERF Program Provides a Safety Net for the Portland’s Cannabis Industry, but Raises Questions About Transparency

HILLARY KLADKE / GETTY IMAGES

This month, a group of nonprofit organizations began distributing $1.33 million in taxpayer funds to Portland cannabis businesses.

The program and its financing, called Cannabis Emergency Relief Fund (CERF), are unconventional, for the beneficiaries—cannabis-related businesses—, for the relative speed with which they moved through City Hall, and for the lack of transparency as to where those taxpayer dollars have been distributed.