The mood among marijuana legalization advocates at the Illinois State Capitol was jubilant Wednesday after legislation was filed to legalize weed for recreational use.
“Obviously, the state of Illinois needs money,” Linn says, “and people are looking at the success of [recreational marijuana sales] in Washington and Colorado.”
Legalizing recreational marijuana would be a “huge positive” for the state, de Souza says. He says he hopes the state takes the same approach with recreational marijuana that it did with medical pot by setting up a strict regulatory framework for the cultivation, testing, and sale of the drug.
Steans says she hasn’t heard complaints of any adverse outcomes resulting from the state’s medical marijuana program—a fact that could prove valuable when trying to assuage any concerns about potential effects of full legalization. Law enforcement groups and others initially expressed reservations about the program, which in part led to Illinois having one of the country’s most tightly regulated medical programs.
Hearings will begin in the next few months, and “right now we’re starting to educate and build support,” she says.
