Illinois just became the second state (Vermont was the first) in the union to legalize cannabis without a publically held vote. When the law comes into effect on the first day of 2020, they’ll be the eleventh state in the country that allows adults to purchase, possess and use recreational cannabis.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the bill into law in front of an excited crowd of other lawmakers, media and citizens.
The bill lays out many regulations like tourist possession limits (which will be less than citizens) and growing at home. The bill will also expunge 800,000 marijuana-related crimes and gives minority groups preference for vendor-licenses.
25 percent of all tax revenue will also help impoverished communities.
“What we are doing here is about reparations,” Peoria Democratic Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth said. “After 40 years of treating entire communities like criminals, here comes this multibillion-dollar industry, and guess what? Black and brown people have been put at the very center of this policy in a way that no other state has ever done.”
Watching the last dominoes of cannabis prohibition fall is a beautiful thing. One day, cannabis prohibition will be just like alcohol prohibition. Chapters in history that young people will read about in curious bewilderment and come to learn just how far the country has come in a relatively small amount of time. It’s good to see Illinois on the right side of history.
