The first day of recreational cannabis sales in Illinois generated nearly $3.2 million. By the close of business on January 2, sales had leapt to $5.5 million. Total retail transactions are climbing into the hundreds of thousands. By any measure, the start of legal retail in Illinois has been... Read more
The new year has brought legal weed to Illinois, and with it, plenty of questions. One of the state’s top gun lobbyists has set out to answer some of them. On Tuesday, a day before the state’s new marijuana law took effect, the Illinois State Rifle Association posted a... Read more
Cannabis consumers are crossing state lines to visit dispensaries in Illinois, where sales of recreational marijuana became legal on New Year’s Day. Four of the five states that border Illinois — Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, and Missouri — have not yet legalized cannabis for recreational use. Sales of recreational marijuana... Read more
On the eve of cannabis legalization in Illinois, Governor J.B. Pritzker spoke at Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago’s Far South Side. On New Year’s Eve, he took the opportunity to announce a kick-start to the lengthy drug war expungement process which awaits the state. Over 11,000 pardons... Read more
New Year’s Day was a historic day for cannabis in the United States. At 6 a.m. CST, more than three dozen licensed cannabis shops opened their doors for the first time, as Illinois joined the ranks of 10 other states with legalized recreational marijuana. Waiting on the other side... Read more
More than 77,000 transactions netted nearly $3.2 million in marijuana product sales on the first day of legal cannabis in Illinois, the state announced Thursday. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation reported 77,128 transactions took place at cannabis dispensaries around Illinois, generating $3,176,256.71 on Day 1. “As we... Read more
The winds of change are afoot in the Windy City, and that will soon mean less stress for pot smoking travelers to Chicago’s airports. Illinois is set to become the latest state to lift prohibition on recreational marijuana use. And when the new law takes effect on New Year’s... Read more
Domestic travelers caught with weed in Chicago airports won’t be busted after Jan. 1, Chicago police say. Even though marijuana will still be illegal under federal law — and it’s illegal to carry across state lines — authorities have no intention of arresting people caught with the drug at... Read more
Ald. Jason Ervin (28th) says governor’s office is backtracking on promise to earmark two medical marijuana dispensary licenses for black or Hispanic operators. The chairman of the City Council’s Black Caucus threatened Thursday to try again to delay recreational marijuana sales in Chicago for six months after accusing Gov.... Read more
In less than a month, millions of Illinois adults will be able to buy marijuana legally for the first time. But before that, the state is doing right by those who got busted in the previous era. Kim Foxx, the state’s attorney for Cook County, Illinois (where Chicago is... Read more
