The Illinois legislature has just over a month left in its spring session. On the docket is a fix for how the state awards licenses to operate in the legal cannabis industry. Consumers may not notice it, but the licensing process has been plagued with issues.
Marijuana
It’s been one year since recreational marijuana became legal in Illinois. Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s senior adviser for cannabis control talks about how Illinois aims to expand access to marijuana dispensary licenses after intense criticism from equity advocates.
In killing a proposal from one of her City Council allies to allow cannabis to be sold legally downtown and in the Loop, Mayor Lori Lightfoot told reporters “we’re not turning Michigan Avenue into the pot paradise.”
Recreational marijuana has been legal in Illinois for just over a year — and sales were better than expected. Crain’s Chicago Business editor Ann Dwyer has details.
In the first year since Illinois legalized recreational marijuana, the Illinois State Police expunged 492,192 non-felony cannabis arrest records, Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office announced on Thursday.
Friday marks one year since it became legal to buy and use marijuana in Illinois. But what about the thousands of people who previously got in trouble for possessing, smoking or selling pot?
Illinois’ recreational marijuana program was set up to right the wrongs of a war on drugs by giving a leg up to those from disadvantaged communities or who had been punished for low-level drug crimes. But nearly a year later, social equity applicants remain locked out.
Illinois’ already-delayed marijuana expansion is on pause, but many of the entrepreneurs trying to be part of the industry are hoping that good things will come to those who wait.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Illinois is already months behind in awarding licenses to new marijuana dispensaries. But now, legislators want to further delay the process.
Twenty-one finalists are now vying for the highly coveted licenses that will add 75 new cannabis dispensaries throughout the state, which will hold a lottery sometime this month to make it final.
A new set of 75 dispensary licenses, judged in part on social equity factors, was to have been awarded by May 1, but has been indefinitely delayed due to the coronavirus.
For businesses, 4/20 is usually their once-a-year Black Friday, when sales soar. Instead, they are reporting up-and-down buying and pondering an uncertain future.
More and more states are legalizing marijuana, but the number of women involved in the cannabis industry keeps dropping. What can Chicago do to buck that trend?
A little more than a month after Illinois legalized marijuana, questions remain about whether the program is as equitable as promised. The popularity of pot is also affecting medical users.
CBD pet products claim to treat pain, anxiety and even seizures, but do they work? And are they even safe? The chief veterinary officer of the American Veterinary Medical Association weighs in.
Marijuana may produce pleasurable affects in people, but for pets, the mind-altering substance can be dangerous and even lethal, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. “We don’t want people to think it’s benign or harmless,” said Michael San Filippo of the AVMA.
