Illinois marijuana legalization legislation

A suggested law to legalize recreational use of marijuana in Illinois will allow possession all the way to 30 grams of this plant for residents 21 and over, a $20 million low-interest loan program to advertise “social equity” in operation ownership, and expungement of misdemeanor and Class 4 felony marijuana prosecutions.

In the center of the measure is making sure communities that have been disproportionately afflicted with enforcement of lower-level drug crimes will be able to take advantage of the legal pot business in Illinois, said Gov. J.B. Pritzker and lawmakers who labored on the measure at an announcement Saturday morning.

The governor and lawmakers touted a central social justice provision of these proposal: Expunging what they estimate could be 800,000 low-level drug convictions. Revenue from Illinois’ marijuana business could be reinvested in communities that lawmakers said have already been “devastated” by the nation’s war on drugs.

Underneath the proposed rules, no new large-scale commercial growers could be authorized to establish up shop here, at the least for the time being. Instead, the main highlight could be on small “craft” growers, with an emphasis on helping people of color become entrepreneurs within the weed industry. In addition, adults would be allowed to grow as much as five plants per household, in a locked room out of public view, using the permission regarding the landowner.

Based on a summary from Pritzker’s office, permit fees could be $100,000 for growers and $30,000 for retailers, with lower fees for applicants from minority areas disproportionately affected by convictions when you look at the war on drugs. There would additionally be a small business development fee of 5 percent of total sales or $500,000, whichever is less, for cultivators, or more to $200,000 for dispensaries, with lower fees for “social equity applicants.”

Cultivators and processors would pay 7 percent of gross sales to dispensaries, while consumers would pay a 10 percent sales tax on products with significantly less than 35 percent THC, the component that gets users high; 20 percent for several cannabis-infused products, such as for instance edibles; and 25 percent sales tax on products with more than 35 percent THC, such as for instance for concentrated extracts referred to as shatter and wax.

The governor would appoint a cannabis regulation oversight officer who does recommend changes to your law and rules, and would coordinate regulation on the list of departments of agriculture, revenue, financial and professional regulation, state police, public health, commerce and economic opportunity, and human services.

Advertising will be prohibited near schools, playgrounds, public transit and public property, and any advertising designed to appeal to minors could be banned, lawmakers said.

Product packaging will be concealed and identified, child-resistant, and needed to declare that cannabis “can hinder cognition and may be habit forming,” and should not be utilized by pregnant or breast-feeding women. It will be illegal to resell marijuana, and to remove it of state, since it remains illegal under federal law.

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