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A bill to legalize the recreational use of In Illinois, marijuana would allow residents 21 years and older to own up to 30 grams of the plant, a low-interest loan program of $ 20 million to promote "Social equity" in business ownership, as well as the cancellation of class 4 marijuana convictions and the crime.
The measure aims to ensure that communities that have been disproportionately affected by the repression of lower-level drug-related offenses can benefit from the trade of legal potions in Illinois, said Governor JB Pritzker and lawmakers who worked on the measure announced Saturday morning.
"Illinois will have the country's most equity-focused law," said Pritzker at the Chicago-based Black United Fund of Illinois.
The governor and legislators have touted a central provision of their social justice proposal: expel what they estimate to be 800,000 convictions for low-level drug cases. Revenues from the marijuana industry in Illinois would be reinvested in communities that legislators have described as "devastating" by the country's war on drugs.
Under the proposed rules introduced, no new large-scale producer would be allowed to move here, at least for the time being. Instead, the focus would be on small "artisanal" producers, with the goal of helping people of color to become entrepreneurs in the weed industry. In addition, adults would be allowed to grow up to five plants per household, in a locked room, out of public view, with the owner's permission.
"We have to make sure that this is not a small group of people who become very rich," said representative Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, one of the sponsors of the measure. "We want to make a lot of new business leaders in the state through this process."
Municipalities could prohibit retail stores from within their limits during the first year of the program. After that, any ban should go through an electoral referendum.
According to a Pritzker office summary, license fees would rise to $ 100,000 for producers and $ 30,000 for retailers, with lower fees and for applicants from minority areas disproportionately affected by convictions in the war on drugs. There would also be commercial development costs equivalent to 5% of total sales or $ 500,000, whichever is less, for growers, and up to $ 200,000 for clinics, the costs being lower for "candidates for social equity."
Farmers and processors would pay 7% of their gross sales to clinics, while consumers would pay a 10% sales tax on products containing less than 35% THC, the component that attracts a lot of users; 20% for all cannabis-infused products, such as edible products; and a 25% sales tax on products containing more than 35% THC, as well as concentrated extracts called shine and wax.
Municipalities can also add an additional 3% sales tax, with counties taking an additional 0.5% in incorporated areas and 3.5% in unincorporated areas.
Of the tax revenues generated, 35% will go to the State General Fund, 25% to community reinvestment, 20% to mental health and addiction treatment, 10% to unpaid government bills, 8% to subsidies. to law enforcement training and 2 percent for public drug education.
Those who deal with addiction have warned of an increase in addiction if marijuana use is legalized.
Aaron Weiner, Director of Substance Abuse Treatment Services at Linden Oaks Behavioral Health in Naperville, voiced concerns about the lack of limits on THC concentration, the licensing of advertising, the fact that stores marijuana can be located a hundred meters from schools, sold.
"It's a bill aimed at generating income for the marijuana industry," he said. "We have other more responsible drug policy options, and our state deserves better."
One group opposed to legalization said the bill would create a "for-profit dependency industry" that would have "devastating effects on citizens". Smart approaches to marijuana supports efforts to slow down legalization.
"Marijuana is not inevitable," said Kevin Sabet, president and founder of SAM, in a statement.
Saturday's supporters said that what sets the bill apart is that people of color were at the center of the measurement negotiations, where they were not before.
"It's only fair," said Senator Toi Hutchinson of Chicago Heights.
The governor would appoint a cannabis regulatory oversight officer who would recommend changes to the law and rules and coordinate regulation between the departments of agriculture, tax and financial regulation, police force, and police. State, Public Health, Trade and Economic Opportunities and Human Services. .
Advertising would be prohibited near schools, playgrounds, public transport and public goods, and any advertising intended to attract minors would be prohibited, legislators explained.
The packages would be sealed and labeled, resistant to children and forced to indicate that cannabis "may impair cognition and may be addictive" and should not be used by pregnant or breastfeeding women. It would be illegal to resell marijuana and take it out of the state because it is illegal under federal law.
Hutchinson has spoken directly to opponents of the legalization of recreational use of marijuana in the state, especially those who advocate slowing down the process. The bill on legalization, that she and other lawmakers led the charge on not only addresses the logistics of the weed company here, but does it as part of the reform of social justice.
"Every month that passes, some can not get a lease, can not get a loan and can not get a job" because of low-level marijuana convictions, she said. "Every sentence is a life sentence."
While they spoke, the leaders were surrounded by lawyers from civil rights groups and anti-violence workers. The minor drug-related criminal convictions are directly related to the violence, they said, and legalizing the herb could make a difference.
"When you're scarred, you can not find work," said Rodney "Hot Rod" Phillips, anti-violence advocacy officer at Englewood for Communities Partnering 4 Peace. "This leads to despair."
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