Everything You Need To Know About Legal Weed In Illinois
Landmark day. Blah blah blah.
I got some Dudes in the state capital that love smoking weed and reading Barstool Sports. So naturally they were quick to send me the seemingly confidential Staff Bill Analysis which is some formal looking document I don’t feel comfortable reading. But because I’m dedicated to education and spreading the goodwill that is the legal charm I went through with a fine tooth comb.
Here’s all the important stuff. My big takeaway is the state wants you smoking and possessing a lot of fucking weed. Let’s get to the highlights.
+ Must be 21 years old to purchase. Yawn.
+ Beginning January 1, 2020, the purchasing, obtaining, possessing, consuming, using, or transporting of a legal amount of cannabis shall not be a criminal or civil offense under State law.
+ Residents of Illinois are allowed to possess any combination of the following:
1) 30 grams of raw cannabis (a lot of weed)
2) Cannabis-infused product or products containing a total of no more than 500 mg of THC.
3) 5 grams of cannabis product in concentrated form (about 10 cartridges).
+All of those amounts are cut 50% for non-residents, which sounds like it’s benefiting residents of IL but again I want to remind you that’s a lot of weed. You can buy 10 cartridges at once? That’s a lot of cartridges.
+ Allows medical cannabis patients to grow 5 cannabis plants, no taller than 5 inches on their residential property in a closed and locked space away from public view that is also reasonably inaccessible by a person under 21 years of age. The bill allows medical cannabis patients to purchase cannabis seeds from a dispensary but not any live cannabis plant material
+ Allows units of local government to enact reasonable zoning ordinances that govern the time, place, manner and number of cannabis establishment operations, or an ordinance that ‘opts out’ the unit of local government from the cannabis industry all together. Carls Translation: your town, like say the Village of Evergreen Park, can say Kick Rocks legal weed and there’s nothing you can do about it. Also, big LOL to the first town to pull this move.
+ A unit of local government may enact ordinances to allow for public consumption. Carls Translation: Your town also holds the keys to public consumption.
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+ Provides for an automatic expungement process for arrests, without further disposition, for minor cannabis offenses (under 30 grams). Carls Translation: practically impossible for you to get in actual trouble in the long term for having less than 30 grams which again is A LOT of weed
+ Allows offenders to individually, through a State’s Attorney, or through legal aid, petition for a motion to vacate and expunge the offense. Individuals with pending cases will also be able to petition to vacate and expunge. Carls Translation: if you have gotten in actual trouble or are in the process of actual trouble, it’s significantly easier to get out of trouble.
+ Creates an infuser license, which allows the business to infuse products with cannabis or cannabis concentrate.
+ Commissions a disparity and availability study to identify discrimination in the cannabis industry. Upon conclusion of the study, the departments responsible for issuing licenses must take those conclusions into consideration for issuing further licenses. Carls Translation: discrimination is proactively banned
+ You can still get fired for being (really) high
+ State won’t fuck with any banks that want to take your debit/food stamp card as form of payment which is very friendly
+ Criminal Defense Industry about to get a big time hourly bump =
Any individual with a conviction for a misdemeanor or Class 4 felony violation of Section 4 or Section 5 of the Cannabis Control Act may file a motion to vacate and expunge the conviction. The motion may be filed individually, through a legal aid agency, or by the State’s Attorney of a county. The motion to vacate and expunge may be filed with the circuit court, the Chief Judge of a judicial circuit, or with any judge designated by the Chief Judge. Multiple individuals are allowed to be on one petition. Objections may be filed within 60 days, along with any supporting evidence. The court must consider the following factors in deciding on a motion to vacate and expunge:
The individual’s age, age at time of conviction, time since the conviction, and the specific adverse consequences if denied.
+ Freedom of Information Act has no bearing so have no worries about communicating with your local authorities about whether or not you can open up that dispensery you’ve been dreaming of. It won’t hurt your chances at the the local school board election 27 years from now.
+ The Good Stuff = By July 1, 2020, the Department of Agriculture shall issue up to 40 craft grow licenses. License awarded during this time may not be sold and a person or entity may only hold 1 craft grower license.
+ More Good Stuff = By December 21, 2021, the Department of Agriculture shall issue up to 60 additional craft grower licenses. At this time a person or entity may hold 2 craft grow licenses and may sell either of the 2 licenses that they may hold.
+ It’s cheaper to join that country club than apply to grow craft weed = The non-refundable application fee for a craft grower shall be $5,000 or another amount set by the Department of Agriculture. If the applicant is awarded a license the person or entity shall pay a pro-rated amount of $40,000
+ This is starting to sound like the mob = The non-refundable application fee for a Transporter application shall be $5,000 or another amount set by the Department of Agriculture. If the transporter is awarded a license they shall pay a pro-rated amount of $10,000.
+ Start a new career = The Cannabis Vocational Pilot Program allows students who are of 18 years of age or older participate in the program. The students may not be in the enclosed locked facility where the cannabis is stored without a registered agent-in-charge faculty member present. The students who complete the program shall receive a Career in Cannabis Certificate. The curriculum shall include but is not limited to, courses that allow participating students to work with, study, and grow live cannabis plants in order to prepare students for a career in the legal cannabis industry.
+ Your Drug Dealer is officially on notice.*
*word for word included in the repord