Last week, a bill died in the Illinois General Assembly that would have banned most sales of delta-8, an unregulated psychoactive material found in the cannabis plant. Delta-8 can be bought from the likes of smoke shops or gas stations by anyone, including minors.   

While Gov. JB Pritzker approved the bill – sponsored by state Sen. Kimberly Lightford – Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson didn’t, saying delta-8 is a good source of revenue for the city, which has a budget deficit projected over $980 million for the 2025 fiscal year. The bill died this month, when it failed to receive three-fifths of the House votes.  

Now, Rep. La Shawn Ford has filed the first bill in the Illinois House this legislative session, which began Jan. 8. His new bill is a departure from the previous one, which aimed to ban delta-8, and proposes regulating the drug’s sale by establishing a certain number of licensed places that can sell it.   

“I would be contradicting my stance on the war on drugs if I called for a prohibition on delta-8 when I helped decriminalize delta-9 cannabis,” Ford told Austin Weekly News. “We made [delta-9 cannabis] legal because we felt that that prohibition was dangerous to certain demographics – Blacks and browns who were impacted.”    

So, House Bill 1 – or the Prevention of Use of Hemp Cannabinoid Products Intended for Human Consumption by Ingestion or Inhalation by Persons Under 21 Years of Age Act – calls for creating guard rails so those who sell delta-8 must abide by state standards. If passed, the bill would shutter smoke shops where people buy delta-8, unless they start abiding by Illinois regulations.   

This isn’t the first time Ford has filed a bill to regulate delta-8 or restrict it for those under 21 years old.   

“For almost four-and-a-half years, I’ve seen the dangers of unregulated delta hemp products,” he said.   

Last year, Fox 32 Chicago reported an increasing number of people, especially children, being hospitalized because of delta-8.   

“We have to prioritize the safety of minors, but let’s make sure we pursue a collaborative process and do it the right way,” Ford said in a statement.   

In House Bill 1, Ford calls for establishing a limited number of delta-8 shops in Illinois, just like there is for cannabis dispensaries.   

“We can’t just have them popping up everywhere,” he said. “We need the same regulations that way, so that we don’t oversaturate communities with this drug.”   

The previous bill, which just died in the General Assembly, would have made it so anyone selling hemp products would be breaking the law, allowing only licensed dispensaries to sell delta-8 products. While this would regulate delta-8, Ford said it would also create a monopoly among cannabis dispensaries.  

“Democrats always talk about how we don’t want to go back,” he said. “This is a perfect example of passing a prohibition that [would] take us back and make the cannabis-like substance illegal. It just doesn’t make sense.”   

Ford said there will be hearings about the bill before people from the cannabis industry, both proponents and opponents, come to the table to discuss a process for regulating delta-8. The bill will then be voted on in the House and, if passed, the Senate and then by the governor.