Next year, Illinois will become the 11th state to fully legalize pot. But cities across the state are trying to stifle the potentially lucrative business.
After a hard-fought campaign this spring in the Illinois Legislature to allow the sale of recreational marijuana, cities across the state are trying to stifle the potentially lucrative business before it launches in January.
Marion chose to prohibit pot businesses even though no company has sought a license to operate there. The council wants to nip the idea of “weed lounges” in the bud. The NIMBY fights in Illinois echo debates common even in states where there is widespread support for recreational and medical marijuana sales. In Washington state, which became a pot pioneer when it embraced full legalization in 2014, roughly 1 in 4 cities bar marijuana businesses from operating within their borders. And in Nevada, where recreational cannabis has been legal since 2017, nearly half of the state’s municipalities have prohibited sales.
Naperville Councilwoman Theresa Sullivan said it’s not clear whether anti-cannabis protesters represented a fair cross section of the town of 170,000 residents. Supporters for recreational sales, she said, “aren’t going to come to a city council meeting — especially if they’re teachers or nurses. They’re not going to come and say, ‘Hey, I can’t wait for the cannabis store to open.
“There will be plenty of towns in Illinois that will accept cannabis sales that will see no societal impact whatsoever and will be able to benefit from the tax revenue in their communities,” said Jason Erkes, spokesperson for Cresco Labs, a company that has 22 dispensaries across the country — including five medical shops in Illinois. Cresco plans to open an additional five dispensaries in Illinois.
Even Absher, the mayor of Marion, whose City Council preemptively barred cannabis sales, said he believes public perception will shift.By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time.
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