Illinois effects one of the strongest legal weed rollouts among US states to date
Source: https://time.com/5759092/illinois-marijuana-legalization/
On June 25th, 2019, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed into a law a bill that would legalize the recreational use of marijuana for adults, to become effective January 1st, 2020. Though the 11th state to do so, Illinois was praised for being the first to include reparations in its law: these provisions include the compensation of communities previously targeted by the ‘war on drugs’ as well as the erasure of minor cannabis offences.
Compensation will occur primarily though subsidies and low operating license interest rates for such communities, which are predominantly low-income neighbourhoods of colour, but will extend as far as reinvesting 25% of cannabis taxation into the government’s ‘R3 Program’. An abbreviation for ‘restore, reinvest, and renew’, these dollars will be spent directly on building infrastructure and providing training within traditionally targeted communities. The 17% African-American city of Evanston expects to generate around $750,000 per year in tax from marijuana, which it plans to make part of its $10 million plan to be applied to housing and education incentives for black individuals.
Concerning criminal records, Pritzker plans to erase all offences of cannabis possession below one ounce for an estimated 800,000 residents.
Illinois has also been contrasted to states such as Massachusetts for having chosen a fast, effective rollout tactic. Massachusetts legalized adult marijuana use in November, 2016 by way of voter referendum. Today, however, the state boasts just 38 stores after over three years of legalization, where Illinois has 48 after just three weeks (and more soon to come). Nor does the New England state limit the number of licenses it gives out by law or policy; the dearth of stores is owing to a lengthy and bureaucratic application process rather than any cap.
While Illinois chose what is known as a ‘flip-switch’ model for its rollout, which saw existing medical retailers—with track records of compliance to the already comprehensive prior regulations—fill out a short, administrative application for licensing, Massachusetts forced such retailers to apply anew. What’s more, Massachusetts included the requirement for successful license applicants to receive a ‘Host Community Agreement’ (HCA) from their towns and cities, which effectively gives municipalities the discretion to allow or disallow cannabis shops from opening. When cities do elect to grant HCAs, they often choose the highest bidder(s), preventing the institution of small, local, community-run businesses. Combined, these various factors have seen many Massachusetts weed stores waiting years for approval.
For all the praise, Illinois is experiencing one major issue: shortages. The state raked in nearly $3.2 million in total sales during the first day of January alone, contributing to the decimation of the stock of some smaller vendors. This is particularly concerning for medical marijuana users, with many afraid this will affect their access to prescriptions.
Forbes cannabis writer Kris Krane, however, is not worrying about these shortages. In addition to stores reserving portions of their stock for prescription-holders, he explains it won’t be long before retailers have scaled up their operations to deal with the heightened demand. According to Krane, this is preferable to the situation in Massachusetts, where a smaller batch of operational stores means less supply and less opportunity for upscaling.
As sales top $25 million through three weeks, Illinois’ largely successful tactic for the rollout of legalized marijuana sparks hope that more states will follow in the near future.
