CHICAGO (WLS) -- A historic morning in Illinois as Governor Pritzker upholds his campaign promise, signing recreational marijuana, or the Cannabis Regulation and Taxation Act (CRTA) into law That means anyone 21 and over will soon be able to purchase and possess marijuana.Supporters say it will be a game-changer for revenue in the state, while opponents say it makes the state more dangerous.Tuesday morning, the governor put pen to paper here in the Austin neighborhood, legalizing the recreational use of marijuana and its commercial sale in the state."As the first state in the nation to fully legalize adult-use cannabis through the legislative process, Illinois exemplifies the best of democracy: a bipartisan and deep commitment to better the lives of all of our people," said Gov. JB Pritzker. "Legalizing adult-use cannabis brings an important and overdue change to our state, and it's the right thing to do. This legislation will clear the cannabis-related records of nonviolent offenders through an efficient combination of automatic expungement, gubernatorial pardon and individual court action. I'm so proud that our state is leading with equity and justice in its approach to cannabis legalization and its regulatory framework. Because of the work of the people here today and so many more all across our state, Illinois is moving forward with empathy and hope."The Democratic-controlled general assembly overwhelmingly approved the bill last month.The bill makes Illinois the 11th state to legalize cannabis and the second to legalize the cannabis possession through the legislative process. The signing of the bill also makes Illinois the first to legalize retail sales legislatively."My office is proud to have helped develop this historic legislation, which will provide conviction relief to hundreds of thousands of Illinois residents in the most extensive and equitable way possible," said Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx. "The time for justice is now, especially for communities of color who have long been disproportionately impacted by low-level cannabis convictions and the failed war on drugs. We look forward to continuing our efforts to ensure the broadest relief possible under this revolutionary law."Starting in the New Year, Illinois residents 21 and older will be able to purchase up to 30 grams of cannabis flower, edibles totaling no more than 500mg of THC and five grams of cannabis concentrate products. Non-residents can purchase half those amounts.People will not be allowed to grow their own pot plants unless they are medical marijuana patients.People who have been convicted of some low-level marijuana crimes could be also be pardoned, but that's only if those convictions are not linked to a violent crime.Pritzker hoping this new law will end part of the war on drugs that led to thousands of arrests and low level drug convictions.The overview of the bill is said to create a $30 million low-interest loan program, social equity applicant status for licensing, and expunge roughly 700,000 records.Lawmakers said revenue from the state's marijuana industry will be re-invested in communities that have been hit hard by the war on drugs.Opponents, however, believe legalization will only lead to increased addiction, drivers who are high and overdoses.Illinois has already decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana but the federal ban remains in place.Opponents said they're talking to federal law enforcement officials and attorneys to determine their next steps. </s> Illinois has become the 11th state in the country to legalize the recreational use and purchase of marijuana.

Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who was elected last year, signed the bill into law on Tuesday, fulfilling a key campaign promise. The state joins 10 others and the District of Columbia in allowing recreational use. The legislation takes effect on Jan. 1, 2020.

The new law allows Illinois residents age 21 and older to possess up to 30 grams of cannabis flower, 5 grams of concentrate and 500 milligrams of THC in products such as edibles.

It also will expunge the records of 800,000 people with criminal records as a result of purchasing or possessing 30 grams or less of marijuana. It earmarks a quarter of the tax revenue from the sale of cannabis to redevelop impoverished communities in the state and gives vendor preference to minority owners.

"Legalizing adult-use cannabis brings an important and overdue change to our state, and it's the right thing to do," Pritzker said in a statement. "This legislation will clear the cannabis-related records of nonviolent offenders through an efficient combination of automatic expungement, gubernatorial pardon and individual court action."

Although 10 other states have approved the recreational use of marijuana — Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington – several others have decriminalized and/or approved cannabis for medical use. </s> Gov. J. B. Pritzker takes in the applause before signing a bill that legalizes adult-use cannabis in the state of Illinois at Sankofa Cultural Arts and Business Center in Chicago. Illinois becomes the 11th to legalize the adult-use of recreational marijuana. (AP Photo/Amr Alfiky)

Gov. J. B. Pritzker takes in the applause before signing a bill that legalizes adult-use cannabis in the state of Illinois at Sankofa Cultural Arts and Business Center in Chicago. Illinois becomes the 11th to legalize the adult-use of recreational marijuana. (AP Photo/Amr Alfiky)

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois’ new governor delivered on a top campaign promise Tuesday by signing legislation making the state the 11th to approve marijuana for recreational use in a program offering legal remedies and economic benefits to minorities whose lives critics say were damaged by a wayward war on drugs.

Legalization in Illinois also means that nearly 800,000 people with criminal records for purchasing or possessing 30 grams of marijuana or less may have those records expunged, a provision minority lawmakers and interest groups demanded. It also gives cannabis-vendor preference to minority owners and promises 25% of tax revenue from marijuana sales to redevelop impoverished communities.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker, whose election last year gave Democrats complete control over state government again after four years under GOP predecessor Bruce Rauner, signed the bill in Chicago amid a bevy of pot proponents, including the plan’s lead sponsors, Rep. Kelly Cassidy and Sen. Heather Steans, both Chicago Democrats.

“Today, we’re hitting the ‘reset’ button on the war on drugs,” Cassidy said.

Residents may purchase and possess up to 1 ounce (30 grams) of marijuana at a time. Non-residents may have 15 grams. The law provides for cannabis purchases by adults 21 and older at approved dispensaries, which, after they’re licensed and established, may start selling Jan. 1, 2020. Possession remains a crime until Jan. 1, a spokesman for Senate Democrats said.

“The war on cannabis has destroyed families, filled prisons with nonviolent offenders, and disproportionately disrupted black and brown communities,” Pritzker said. “Law enforcement across the nation has spent billions of dollars to enforce the criminalization of cannabis, yet its consumption remains widespread.”

On the campaign trail, Pritzker claimed that, once established, taxation of marijuana could generate $800 million to $1 billion a year. He said dispensary licensing would bring in $170 million in the coming year alone. But Cassidy and Steans have dampened that prediction, lowering estimates to $58 million in the first year and $500 million annually within five years.

Carrying the psychoactive ingredient THC, marijuana was effectively outlawed in the U.S. in 1937 and in the 1970s was declared a drug with no medicinal purpose and high potential for abuse.

Blacks have been most susceptible since then to “Just say ‘No‴-era crackdowns. Pritzker quoted a 2010 statistic from the American Civil Liberties Union that while blacks comprise 15% of Illinois’ population, they account for 60% of cannabis-possession arrests.

Peoria Democratic Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth summarized marijuana’s recent history as one where “white men would get rich and black men would get arrested.” The plan addresses those concerns with the criminal-record scrubbing by giving preference to would-be marijuana vendors in areas of high poverty and records of large numbers of convictions. And 25% of tax proceeds must be reinvested in impoverished communities, while 20% is dedicated to substance-abuse treatment programs.

“What we are doing here is about reparations,” 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.”

Police organizations are wary, concerned about enforcing driving under the influence laws and arguing technology for testing marijuana impairment needs more development. Law enforcement organizations fearing black-market impacts were successful in killing an earlier provision that would have allowed anyone to grow up to five marijuana plants at home for personal use. Police said they’d have difficulty enforcing that, so the bill was amended to allow five plants to be maintained only by authorized patients under the state’s medical marijuana law. They previously could not grow their own.

Ten other states and the District of Columbia have legalized smoking or eating marijuana for recreational use since 2012, when voters in Colorado and Washington state approved ballot initiatives. This year began with promising proposals in New York and New Jersey , but both fizzled late this spring. Despite a statewide listening tour on the issue by Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor last winter, the idea never took flight.

Vermont and Michigan last year were the latest states to legalize marijuana. Vermont did so through the Legislature — the first time it wasn’t done through a ballot initiative — but while it allows residents to grow small amounts for themselves, it didn’t establish a statewide distribution system like Illinois did, licensing dispensaries. Other states license dispensaries too, but not all.

Illinois’ 55 medical-cannabis dispensaries get first crack at licenses to sell under the new law because they’re proven business concerns, Cassidy said. They may apply to dispense recreational pot at their current stores and for a license for a second location, meaning the state could have 110 recreational pot outlets by the time sales start Jan. 1. In October, the application period for 75 more dispensaries opens. No more would be allowed to open after that until the state conducts a review of the rollout.

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The bill is HB1438.

Online: https://bit.ly/2Xv5bxM

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Follow AP’s complete marijuana coverage: https://apnews.com/Marijuana

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Follow Political Writer John O’Connor at https://twitter.com/apoconnor . </s> Illinois has become the 11th state to legalize recreational marijuana.

Governor JB Pritzker, who advocated for legalization in his 2018 campaign, signed a marijuana legalization bill on Tuesday. The bill allows recreational possession and sales starting on January 1st, 2020.

“As the first state in the nation to fully legalize adult-use cannabis through the legislative process, Illinois exemplifies the best of democracy: a bipartisan and deep commitment to better the lives of all of our people,” said Gov. JB Pritzker. “Legalizing adult-use cannabis brings an important and overdue change to our state, and it’s the right thing to do. This legislation will clear the cannabis-related records of nonviolent offenders through an efficient combination of automatic expungement, gubernatorial pardon and individual court action. I’m so proud that our state is leading with equity and justice in its approach to cannabis legalization and its regulatory framework. Because of the work of the people here today and so many more all across our state, Illinois is moving forward with empathy and hope.”

House Bill 1438 promotes equity and invests in the communities that suffered through the war on drugs, serving as a model for the legalization and decriminalization of cannabis. </s> SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois' new governor delivered on a top campaign promise today by signing legislation that makes the state the 11th to legalize small amounts of marijuana for recreational use and the second to approve it through the Legislature rather than the ballot box.

Legalization in Illinois also means that nearly 800,000 people with criminal records for purchasing or possessing 30 grams of marijuana or less may have those records expunged, a provision minority lawmakers and interest groups demanded. It also gives cannabis-vendor preference to minority owners and promises 25 percent of tax revenue from marijuana sales to redevelop impoverished communities.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker, whose election last year gave Democrats complete control over state government again after four years under GOP predecessor Bruce Rauner, signed the bill in Chicago amid a bevy of lawmakers and pot proponents.

Under the measure, residents can purchase and possess up to 1 ounce (30 grams) of marijuana at a time. Nonresidents could have up to 15 grams. The law provides for cannabis purchases by adults 21 and older at approved dispensaries, which, after they're licensed and established, may start selling Jan. 1, 2020. That means possession remains a crime until Jan. 1, a spokesman for Senate Democrats said. </s> SPRINGFIELD, Illinois— Illinois’ new governor delivered on a top campaign promise Tuesday by signing legislation legalizing small amounts of marijuana for recreational use, making the state the 11th to do so and the first to implement a statewide cannabis marketplace designed by legislators.

Legalization in Illinois also means that nearly 800,000 people with criminal records for purchasing or possessing 30 grams of marijuana or less may have those records expunged, a provision minority lawmakers and interest groups demanded. It also gives cannabis-vendor preference to minority owners and promises 25% of tax revenue from marijuana sales to redevelop impoverished communities.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker, whose election last year gave Democrats complete control over state government again after four years under GOP predecessor Bruce Rauner, signed the bill in Chicago amid a bevy of lawmakers and pot proponents.

Under the measure, residents can purchase and possess up to 1 ounce (30 grams) of marijuana at a time. Non-residents could have up to 15 grams. The law provides for cannabis purchases by adults 21 and older at approved dispensaries, which, after they’re licensed and established, may start selling Jan. 1, 2020. That means possession remains a crime until Jan. 1, a spokesman for Senate Democrats said.

“In the past 50 years, the war on cannabis has destroyed families, filled prisons with nonviolent offenders, and disproportionately disrupted black and brown communities,” Pritzker said. “Each year, law enforcement across the nation has spent billions of dollars to enforce the criminalization of cannabis. … Yet its consumption remains widespread.”

On the campaign trail, Pritzker claimed that, once established, taxation of marijuana could generate $800 million to $1 billion a year in taxes. He initially estimated that in the budget year that begins July 1, dispensary licensing would bring in $170 million. But the lawmakers who sponsored the plan, Sen. Heather Steans and Rep. Kelly Cassidy, both Chicago Democrats, have dampened that prediction, lowering estimates to $58 million in the first year and $500 million annually within five years.

The marketplace portion of the Illinois law also addresses what critics have complained is the decades-long war on drugs’ disproportionate impact on minority communities. Pritzker said that while blacks comprise 15% of Illinois’ population, they count for 60% of cannabis-possession arrests.

 In addition to providing criminal-record scrubbing for past low-level offenders, the law gives preference to would-be marijuana vendors in areas of high poverty and records of large numbers of convictions. And portions of tax proceeds must be reinvested in impoverished communities.

 Police organizations are wary, concerned about enforcing driving under the influence laws and arguing technology for testing marijuana impairment needs more development. Law enforcement organizations were successful in killing an earlier provision that would have allowed anyone to grow up to five marijuana plants at home for personal use. Police said they’d have difficulty enforcing that, so the bill was amended to allow five plants to be maintained only by authorized patients under the state’s medical marijuana law. They previously could not grow their own.

Ten other states and the District of Columbia have legalized smoking or eating marijuana for recreational use since 2012, when voters in Colorado and Washington state approved ballot initiatives. Vermont and Michigan last year were the latest states to legalize marijuana. Vermont did so through the Legislature, the first time it wasn’t done through a ballot initiative, but didn’t establish a statewide marketplace as Illinois did.

 Other initiatives have failed. Promising proposals in New York and New Jersey fizzled late this spring. Despite a statewide listening tour on the issue by Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor last winter, the idea never took flight. </s> SPRINGFIELD – Recreational marijuana use and possession will be legal in Illinois beginning Jan. 1, 2020, after Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday in Chicago signed a bill supporters said is the “most equity-centric” legalization effort in the nation.

“This legislation lives true to the promise to bring justice, equity and opportunity throughout our state,” Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton said. “By including components focused on repairing the harm caused by the failed war on drugs and decades of policies that caused mass incarceration — Illinois is a national leader with policy that’s a national model.”

The legalization effort made Illinois the 11th state in the U.S. to legalize marijuana but the first to pass a comprehensive legalization package through the legislature rather than a ballot initiative.

“As the first state in the nation to fully legalize adult-use cannabis through the legislative process, Illinois exemplifies the best of democracy: a bipartisan and deep commitment to better the lives of all of our people,” Pritzker said during a signing ceremony at the Sankofa Cultural Arts and Business Center. “Legalizing adult-use cannabis brings an important and overdue change to our state, and it’s the right thing to do.”

Beginning Jan. 1, the law will allow for the possession of up to 30 grams of marijuana per Illinois resident over the age of 21. Residents will also be able to possess up to 5 grams of cannabis concentrate and 500 milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol – or THC – contained in a cannabis-infused product. Non-residents can possess half those amounts.

Registered medical marijuana patients will be allowed to grow up to five cannabis plants in their home and possess more than 30 grams of marijuana if it is grown and secured in their residence.

The new law also includes expungement measures for those with low-level marijuana arrests and convictions. Roughly 700,000 records are eligible for expungement under the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, Pritzker said.

“One of the things that we wanted to make sure we accomplished with legalization was ensuring we put social equity at the center and the heart of our efforts, acknowledging that while we normalize and legalize something that is happening across the country, that we tie the direct nexus to the communities that the prohibition has hurt the most,” said Sen. Toi Hutchinson, D-Olympia Fields.

Pritzker said those with arrests for less than 30 grams will have their records cleared through local law enforcement and the Illinois State Police, and those with convictions up to that amount will have their records referred to the Prisoner Review Board, which will make an expungement recommendation to the governor.

Those convicted of possessing between 30 and 500 grams could petition the courts for expungement through a more complex “motion to vacate” process.

Marijuana offenses connected to violent crime are ineligible for the automatic expungement processes, but the individual or state’s attorney can still file a motion with the court to vacate conviction.

“This legislation recognizes that to move forward and create a new cannabis industry, we have to mend the historic inequalities that have torn communities apart,” said Esther Franco-Payne, executive director of Cabrini Green Legal Aid. “Expunging the records of hundreds of thousands of people and making social equity at the center of this bill will change lives and revitalize communities.”

The measure directs 25% of legalization revenues to a newly-established Restore, Reinvest and Renew grant program to “help communities most disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs,” Pritzker said.

The bill also creates a $30 million low-interest loan program to defray the start-up costs associated with entering the licensed cannabis industry and establishes a “social equity applicant” status for licensing aimed at generating more minority participation in the legalized industry.

The new law also establishes a DUI Cannabis Task Force; regulates advertising, packaging and location of cannabis businesses near public spaces, including schools and parks; and allows local governments to regulate the location of a cannabis business and home grow.

Legalization will generate revenue through a 7% tax on the gross receipts from the sale of marijuana by a cultivator and an excise tax on the purchaser. Marijuana with a THC level at or below 35% would pay a 10% tax, while products over that amount of THC would be taxed at 25%. A 20% tax would apply to marijuana-infused products.

The tax does not apply for marijuana purchased by licensed medicinal patients.

The Illinois Department of Revenue projects that this industry will generate more than $57 million in tax revenue and licensing fees in fiscal year 2020. In tax revenue alone, legalization is expected to generate $140.5 million in fiscal year 2021; $253.5 million in FY22; $323.5 million in FY23; and $375.5 million in FY24.

Legalization is expected to generate as much as $500 million each year when the industry is fully mature. For the first year, most of the revenue is expected to come from licensing fees for marijuana cultivators, processors, transporters and sellers.

After regulatory expenses are accounted for, the bill dedicates 35% of legalization revenues to the general revenue fund; 20% to address substance abuse, prevention and mental health concerns; 10% to pay down the bill backlog; 8% to local governments to support crime prevention programs and interdiction efforts relating to the illegal cannabis market and driving under the influence of cannabis; and 2% for a public education campaign and analysis of the public health impacts of legalization. </s> ILLINOIS — Illinois is now the 11th state in the United States to legalize the purchase and possession of recreational marijuana.

Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill Tuesday that allows adults 21 and over in the state to buy and possess small amounts of the drug.

Adults will be able to purchase and possess 30 grams of cannabis, five grams of cannabis concentrate, and cannbis-infused products containing no more than 500 milligrams of THC. Nonresidents will be able to purchase half of each of those amounts.

Under the law, medical patients would be permitted to buy marijuana seeds and grow up to five plants at home, so long as the plants are kept out of public view.

Employers can still enforce a zero-tolerance or drug free workplace.

The measure, which passed the Illinois General Assembly earlier this month, also pardons individuals with nonviolent convictions for amounts of cannabis up to 30 grams.

State’s attorneys or individuals can petition a court to vacate convictions for possession up to 500 grams.

“In the past 50 years, the war on cannabis has destroyed families, filled prisons with nonviolent offenders and disproportionately disrupted black and brown communities,” Pritzker said Tuesday at the bill signing ceremony in Chicago.

Pritzker, who campaigned for legalizing marijuana, said the legislation brings an “overdue change to our state.”

“Signing this bill into law won’t undo the injustices of the past or make whole the lives that were interrupted. We can’t turn the clock back — but we can turn the page,” Pritzker said.

According to the Marijuana Policy Project, around 770,000 cannabis-related cases are eligible for expungement.

The measure establishes a grant program — the Restore, Reinvest, and Renew Program — to help communities affected by the War on Drugs and a $30 million low-interest loan program for qualified applicants who wish to start a licensed cannabis business.

Illinois will charge a 10% tax on cannabis products with a THC level at or below 35%, a 20% tax on all cannabis infused products and 25% tax on cannabis with a THC level above 35%.

Democratic state Sen. Heather Steans, the bill’s chief sponsor, also argued Tuesday that the state will be able to improve safety by “providing safe products and doing good public education why they (children) should not have access.”

The law goes into effect in January 1, 2020. </s> The Latest on recreational marijuana legalization in Illinois (all times local):

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed legislation making Illinois the 11th state in the nation to legalize recreational marijuana.

The Democrat signed legislation Tuesday in Chicago allowing residents to purchase and possess up to 1 ounce (30 grams) of marijuana at a time. Non-residents could have up to 15 grams.

Illinois joins 10 other states and the District of Columbia in allowing recreational use. It's been essentially illegal for the past 80 years and since 1970 has been federally banned as a narcotic.

But Pritzker made legalization a main tenet of his campaign for governor last fall.

Nearly two dozen states have pursued legalization in the past two years. Efforts in New York and New Jersey fizzled this spring. Pennsylvania officials proposed it but it never got off the ground.

The governor of Illinois plans to make the state the 11th in the nation to legalize recreational marijuana use.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has scheduled a legislation-signing ceremony Tuesday morning in Chicago. His staff listed the event on his schedule released late Monday night.

The law would allow residents to purchase and possess up to 1 ounce (30 grams) of usable marijuana at a time. Nonresidents could have 15 grams. Up to five privately home-grown plants would be allowed for personal use, but only for patients approved for the existing medical marijuana program.

Ten states and the District of Columbia allow recreational use. Legislation to legalize it in New York and New Jersey this spring fizzled. Discussions in Pennsylvania never got off the ground.
Illinois becomes the 11th U.S. state to legalize the recreational use of cannabis. The bill, signed into law by Governor of Illinois J. B. Pritzker, will also remove criminal records for purchasing or possessing 30 grams or less of cannabis.