Illinois managed to accomplish what New York and New Jersey failed to do this year: It legalized marijuana for adult-use.<\/p>\n
Well, at the time that this article was being typed out Gov. J.B. Pritzker had not\u00a0officially<\/em>\u00a0signed the\u00a0bill<\/a>\u00a0into law. But both the House of Representatives and the Senate handed down approval for the measure last week, and the word on the street is that Pritzker \u2014 who vowed to legalize weed as soon as he took office \u2014 is expected to grace the bill with his signature soon.<\/p>\n And more than just legalizing marijuana for recreational use, something that 10 other states have also achieved, the movement in Illinois is now being hailed as one of the most progressive pieces of marijuana reform to come to fruition.<\/p>\n Unlike other marijuana-related measures to come before it, the bill looks to repair the communities tossed face down in a puddle of disenfranchisement and despair over the years, thanks to\u00a0prohibition<\/a>.<\/p>\n It is a package that includes the expungement of some pot offenses, as well as one designed to provide licensing opportunities for those areas most affected by the drug war. This is a more progressive different take on marijuana legalization in the United States, especially compared to any of the other pot laws slapped on the books on a statewide level. It could eventually become a blueprint for how the entire nation moves into a post-prohibition state of mind.<\/p>\n \u201cThe state of Illinois just made history, legalizing adult-use cannabis with the most equity-centric approach in the nation,\u201d Pritzker\u00a0posted to Facebook.<\/a>\u00a0\u201cThis will have a transformational impact on our state, creating opportunity in the communities that need it most and giving so many a second chance.\u201d<\/p>\n OK, sounds great, but what exactly does this mean?<\/p>\n For starters, the bill comes with a provision designed to clear the criminal convictions of pot offenders that do not have a history of violence. At its most basic level, this part of the law will clear those people who were busted for personal pot possession. But the measure goes a step further by forgiving those records of people convicted of the cultivation of cannabis (manufacturing) and those with blemishes for \u201cintent to deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n This means that while cannabis users caught up in the criminal justice system will catch a break as the result of legalization, so will a lot of those that have been operating in the illicit drug trade. The only downside to this provision is people must petition the courts for expungement as opposed to having those records automatically cleaned. All in, however, as many as 770,000 Illinois pot offenders could be forgiven as a result.<\/p>\n The other aspect of the social equity plan is intended to give oppressed communities a chance to thrive in the business of weed. This is one aspect that seemed to\u00a0jam up New York and New Jersey<\/a>\u00a0while they were trying to pass a similar measure.<\/p>\n Lawmakers just couldn\u2019t seem to agree on the lengths that such a provision should go before it was deserving of their support. But for Illinois, the task was relatively easy \u2014 lawmakers set a definition for the \u201csocial equity applicant,\u201d give them advantage marks for falling into this category and then open up a taxed and regulated marijuana market. It\u2019s not rocket science.<\/p>\n The law defines a social equity applicant as an Illinois resident that has lived in a \u201cdisproportionately affected neighborhood\u201d for the last five years. These people are automatically given 25 points out of the required 200 when it comes to the cannabis business licensing process. The same goes for those individuals who get their criminal records expunged. The system is set up to give former street dealers a fighting chance at becoming part of the cannabis trade as it enters legitimacy.<\/p>\n To top it off, part of the state\u2019s marijuana taxes will be allotted to help salvage those communities beaten down by prohibition. The bill indicates that 25% of the revenue will be invested in rebuilding the communities most affected by the racist law enforcement<\/a>\u00a0scourge of the past few decades.<\/p>\n The hope is that all of these aspects working in conjunction with one another will help ease the burden that has been created due to the misguided policies instilled back when President Nixon was in office.<\/p>\n \u201cDecades of prohibition hasn\u2019t stopped use, prohibition hasn\u2019t made us safer. Prohibition hasn\u2019t built communities \u2014 in fact, it has destroyed them. Prohibition hasn\u2019t created jobs, in fact, it has prevented people from finding work,\u201d Rep. Kelly Cassidy, who was part of the crew that drafted the bill,\u00a0said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cEnding prohibition will allow us to bring this out of the shadows. Impose reasonable and thoughtful regulation and bring assurance of a tested and safer product.\u201d<\/p>\n As for the rest of Illinois\u2019s pot smoking civilization, the new law is pretty cut and dry. Adults 21 and older can possess a little more than an ounce of weed and they can purchase it from their neighborhood dispensary. The law clearly indicates that non-residents can also take part in the fun. The only caveat is there could be savage legal repercussions if the cops in a state like Indiana happen to catch a motorist smuggling pot into their weedless domicile of mustached justice.<\/p>\n Strangely, the law only allows medical marijuana patients to get into home cultivation \u2014 so, be sure to buddy up with one of these people soon.<\/p>\n It is also important to remember that while marijuana is not fully legal until the beginning of next year, small time pot possession was decriminalized in the Land of Lincoln a few years ago. Anyone busted today with 10 grams or less is simply slapped with a $200 fine. Around 30 grams, however, is a misdemeanor offense punishable with up to a year in jail and fines reaching $2,500.<\/p>\n So, until the new law takes effect, it is well-advised to travel the state with only small amounts. Illinois cops could be looking for gun-jumping marijuana fanatics from now until January.<\/p>\n TELL US<\/strong>, does your state have any equity measures in place?\u00a0<\/p>\n The post Illinois\u2019 Equity-Centric Approach to Recreational Marijuana Is Worth Watching<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Illinois managed to accomplish what New York and New Jersey failed to do this year: It legalized marijuana for adult-use. Well, at the time that this article was being typed out Gov. J.B. Pritzker had not\u00a0officially\u00a0signed the\u00a0bill\u00a0into law. But both the House of Representatives and the Senate handed down approvalContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[159,50,3792,1051,4060,90,687,362,4166,319,97],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35807"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35807"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35808,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35807\/revisions\/35808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Restitution for the War on Drugs<\/h4>\n
Whose Equity Is It, Anyway?<\/h4>\n
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\nRead More: Illinois\u2019 Equity-Centric Approach to Recreational Marijuana Is Worth Watching<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"