On January 1st, a law went into effect allowing all Illinois residents age 21 and older to purchase and use marijuana for recreational purposes. Every adult is now allowed to possess up to 30 grams of cannabis, five grams of cannabis concentrate or 500 milligrams of the active ingredient in cannabis, THC. People who do not reside in Illinois but reside there are allowed to carry up to 15 grams of cannabis.
White smoke in Illinois
In addition, the state government in the US Midwest now grants licenses for the cultivation and distribution of marijuana. In the metropolis of Chicago, long lines of hundreds of people formed in front of legal cannabis sales points in the early hours of the morning on New Year’s Day:
In addition, Governor Jay Robert Pritzker began pardoning hundreds of thousands of citizens convicted of minor cannabis-related offenses. As of New Year’s Eve, the Democratic politician had already pardoned 11,017 people convicted of minor offenses related to cannabis use. A total of more than 700,000 such pardons are planned.
Realignment of drug policy
“We are restoring the rights of many tens of thousands of Illinois citizens,” Governor Pritzker commented on cannabis legalization. “We’re bringing regulation and safety to a previously unsafe and illegal market. And we’re creating a new industry that puts justice at its core.”
Prior to Illinois, ten other US states and Washington DC have legalized recreational cannabis. 34 states allow cannabis use for medical reasons.
The US Drug Enforcement Agency DEA continues to classify marijuana as a substance just as dangerous as LSD or heroin. However, a study released in August by the US Department of Disease Control (CDC) found that legalizing recreational marijuana reduced deaths associated with the use of opioids like fentanyl by at least 20 percent. In addition, legalization has positive economic effects in the form of new jobs and higher tax revenues.
qu/jj (afp, rtre, illinois.gov)
