Health

Chicago Must Regulate Intoxicating Hemp to Protect Kids: City’s Top Doctor

The Chicago City Council should approve a proposal included in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposed spending plan for 2026 to regulate intoxicating hemp products to protect the city’s children and teens, Chicago’s top doctor told members of the City Council Thursday.

The city must do what it can to restrict access to products that contain less than 0.3% delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, the main intoxicating compound in cannabis better known as THC, Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Olusimbo “Simbo” Ige said during her department’s annual budget hearing before the City Council’s Budget and Government Operations Committee.

“From the public health perspective, it is about protecting the children and protecting adults who don’t really know what is in the products they’re consuming,” Ige said.

The proposal would ban the sale of delta-8 and other hemp-derived snacks, drinks and products to those younger than 21 years old while prohibiting the sale of all products designed “to resemble a branded candy, cookie, chip or other snack food” in an attempt to stop the items from attracting the attention of children looking for a treat, according to the proposal.

The measure would also impose a $2 per item tax that the proposed spending plan projects will add $10 million to the city’s coffers.

Even though alderpeople spent hours peppering Ige with questions about how, exactly, the regulations would work, the hearing ended with many questions left unanswered.

“I think we’re all confused,” Ald. Jason Ervin (28th Ward), the chair of the Budget Committee, said near the end of the marathon session.

Nearly a year and a half ago, an effort championed by Gov. JB Pritzker to impose strict restrictions on intoxicating hemp products failed to pass the General Assembly, in part because of opposition from Johnson and Chicago-area lawmakers.

During that debate, Johnson argued that state officials prevented Chicago, and other local governments, from getting their fair share of revenue when state officials legalized the sale of cannabis in 2019. The mayor vowed to prevent that from happening again.

The proposal would require businesses that sell products that contain hemp to be licensed by the city, which would allow officials to prevent the items from being sold near sensitive locations, like schools and day cares, much the same way tobacco products cannot be sold near Chicago schools, Ige said. A license would cost $1,750, according to the proposal.

The measure would also give the Chicago Department of Public Health the authority to require sellers to submit samples of their products to city officials for testing to ensure they do not have more THC than allowed in non-cannabis products or “toxic chemicals or organisms of public health concern as determined” by city officials.

But Ige acknowledged to alderpeople that her department does not have the capacity to perform those tests, nor are additional resources included in the department’s proposed budget for 2026.

Johnson should have set up a regulatory framework before proposing to license and tax intoxicating hemp products, Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd Ward) said.

Chicagoans could be led to believe the products are safe because they are being sold at stores licensed by the city, even though the city has no way to vouch for their purity, Waguespack said, calling the mayor’s proposal “backwards.”

“I think somebody has put you in a really bad spot here,” Waguespack told Ige.

Several alderpeople scoffed at the notion that taxing the sale of intoxicating hemp products would prove to be a financial windfall for the city, since the allure of the non-regulated products could be driven by the much higher amounts of THC many now contain.

“To put together a whole new process here, I think, the juice is not worth the squeeze, in my opinion,” Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th Ward) said.

Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th Ward) said two residents of her ward were hospitalized after consuming products that contained much more THC than promised.

Taylor said the products should only be sold at licensed cannabis dispensaries, similar to a ban contained in the bill backed by Pritzker, but slammed by Johnson as too restrictive.

Ige said she shared Taylor’s concerns.

“We’ve been waiting on the state,” Ige said. “So, if the city can take the lead in doing something to restrict access to hemp products, I think it will be a good thing.”

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]

---