Pueblo County expands its cannabis-funded scholarships with eye on having high school graduates enroll at local colleges.

Clint Pyatt is a third-generation farmer from Oklahoma who has traveled the world promoting the hemp industry. So it’s no coincidence that the 45-year-old Marine Corps veteran is trying to shepherd hemp into Pueblo County.

Pueblo County has set aside around $750,000 in college scholarships for high school seniors, and all of that funding came from marijuana excise taxes.

Increasingly, marijuana advocates say, Pueblo is turning into the Napa Valley of Weed for those seeking to grow, buy or sell the leafy green plant illegal in much of the world.

DENVER - Marijuana is a $1.3 billion industry in Colorado, and the ensuing tax revenue is helping students pay for college.

DENVER — Colorado pot smokers are helping send 25 students to college, the first scholarships in the U.S. funded with taxes on legal marijuana.