The Illinois General Assembly is poised to become the nation’s first state legislature to legalize marijuana for recreational use, and south suburban lawmakers want to guarantee the change will create economic benefits for their communities.
Some view legalized pot as a historic opportunity to create jobs for people who grow, sell, process and transport cannabis products. This could be the biggest economic game-changer since alcohol consumption and sales were legalized when Prohibition ended in 1933.
“This is a major policy change,” state Sen. Elgie Sims, D-Chicago, told an audience of about 50 people Monday night at Olive-Harvey College in Chicago. “In addition to those billions of dollars, there are questions about social justice and economic equity.”
Sims represents the 17th District, which includes parts of Burnham, Calumet City, Lansing, Ford Heights, Lynwood and Sauk Village. Some of the towns also are in the 34th House District, which is represented by Nicholas Smith, D-Chicago.
“This could bring extreme revenue to the state of Illinois,” Smith told the audience.
The Illinois Economic Policy Institute estimated legalization would generate an additional $525 million in annual tax revenue for the state, said Rose Ashby, field director for state Sen. Heather Steans, D-Chicago.
Steans is lead sponsor of a legalization bill in the Senate, while state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, is lead sponsor of a House bill.
Supporters want the legislation to specify that some of the new revenue will create “programs to repair harms to communities adversely affected by the war on drugs,” according to a presentation Ashby gave Monday night.
Illinois legalized medical marijuana in 2013 and is among 33 states where it’s legal to use pot for medicinal purposes. Voters in 10 states and the District of Columbia have approved measures legalizing marijuana for recreational use, but Illinois could be the first state where a legislature authorizes legal use for non-medical purposes.
Legalization advocates say the proposed legislation addresses numerous concerns. For starters, recreational use of marijuana would be restricted to adults age 21 and older.
“Right now it’s easier (for youths) to access cannabis than alcohol,” Ashby said. “Teen use does not increase in states where it is legalized.”
Then there are concerns about motorists impaired by marijuana use posing potential safety hazards to others.
“Driving while high worries people. It worries my mom,” Ashby said. “People are looking for a breathalyzer (a field test for alcohol) for cannabis. Science hasn’t quite caught up yet. They’re going to solve this problem because there’s a lot of money to be made.”
Steans and Cassidy commissioned a study released in February by the Colorado-based cannabis consulting firm Freedman & Koski that concluded a legal pot market in Illinois would generate between $1.7 billion and $2.6 billion in annual gross revenue.
Companies that hold the state’s existing 21 licenses to grow marijuana for medical use couldn’t meet the expected demand for the recreational market, Ashby said. Regulators want entrepreneurs from the south suburbs to have a fair shot at obtaining a potentially expanded field of licenses.
The profit potential is enormous. An Arizona company paid $850 million to acquire Chicago-based Verano Holdings, which is licensed to operate a cultivation facility and dispensaries in Illinois, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Marijuana legalization could address opportunities for underprivileged people in numerous ways. Decriminalization of the drug could allow felons convicted of pot-related offenses to expunge their criminal records. That could remove barriers to employment and housing opportunities, said Kareem Kenyatta, a lobbyist for the Marijuana Policy Project.
While many lack the capital needed to obtain a cultivation or dispensary license, the law could create more accessible classes of licenses for people who transport or process cannabis. Think “Uber Eats” for pot deliveries, or boutiques where craft processors could sell oils, lotions and edibles infused with cannabis.
“There are communities that have been destroyed by the war on drugs,” Kenyatta said. “Restorative justice” is a key concept that advocates want enshrined in pot-legalization legislation.
Kiana Hughes is education director for the Chicago chapter of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. The south suburban native told the town hall audience that legalized pot could help communities affected by high tax rates because of the loss of manufacturing jobs.
“I grew up at a time when Harvey was flourishing with lots of factories,” she said. “It’s nothing like that now.”
Hughes authored a blog post in January on the Chicago NORML website titled, “Dear Black People.”
“With the election of (Gov.) J.B. Pritzker, we have been all but guaranteed that cannabis will be legalized for adult use in the near future,” she wrote. “So, the question for the black community is not what are we going to do about marijuana legalization, but rather, what are we going to do with it?”
Her blog post was consistent with points made by speakers at Monday’s town hall that legalization presents a tremendous economic opportunity for people in the south suburbs.
“Despite examples of the potential economic boon that cannabis legalization could be, some black community leaders are fighting it,” Hughes wrote. “Citing the potential for ‘white corporate exploitation of minority customers,’ opponents of legalization are ignoring the other side: the potential for us to benefit from legal cannabis.”
Entrepreneur Daniel Harrington cofounded Viola Extracts, a Denver-based cannabis company that employs 80 people in Colorado, Oregon, California and Michigan. Lawmakers in Illinois should craft a bill that creates opportunities for many, instead of a few well-funded players, he said.
“If you give us a fair shot, we’ll figure it out and be successful,” Harrington told the audience. “The reality is, (policy) is going to be dictated to us by people who own the businesses. If that train leaves the station, it’s gone.”
Sims acknowledged various south suburban elected officials in attendance Monday, including Burnham Mayor Robert Polk and Calumet City 7th Ward Ald. Anthony Smith. Sims said community leaders must be prepared to maximize the benefits should recreational use of marijuana be legalized for adults in Illinois.
“This will be unlike anything we’ve seen in our lifetimes,” Sims said. “It will be like when Prohibition ended.”
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Region: South Suburbs,Opinion
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March 13, 2019 at 02:18PM
Illinois Delivered 