Under the measure, residents can purchase and possess up to 1 ounce (30 grams) of marijuana at a time
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois’ new governor delivered on a top campaign promise Tuesday by signing legislation legalizing small amounts of marijuana for recreational use, the 11th state to do so and the first to implement a comprehensive statewide cannabis marketplace designed by legislators.
Under the measure, residents can purchase and possess up to 1 ounce 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.
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. State Sen. Toi Hutchinson, a Democrat from Olympia Fields, said it’s a generally accepted statistic that blacks are 4 ½ times more likely to be convicted of low-level pot offenses, but she didn’t know if Illinois’ numbers are higher than typical.
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