illinois

I'm intrigued by the possibility that by the next time south suburban voters head to polls to choose a president in 2020, recreational use of marijuana could be legal in Illinois. State lawmakers are deliberately studying the issue and weighing many pros and cons. Discussion points include...

If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. New York, New York, right? Well, not so much with legal marijuana. While medical marijuana is legal in New York, the state has been slower to adapt legalization of recreational marijuana that's already happened in Alaska, California...

Add a Republican senator from Central Illinois to the growing list of Illinois lawmakers who say the state should legalize recreational marijuana. State Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, says he is ready to support legal, recreational marijuana if the law is written correctly. "I...

The Medical Marijuana Commission will choose five applicants to grow marijuana and 32 to sell it in Arkansas. In February, we'll learn who the five cultivators will be out of the nearly 100 applicants. One applicant who is already in the medical marijuana business told us what the business is...

Illinois will see legal recreational marijuana eventually, according to one industry expert. Chris Stone is the CEO of HCI Alternatives in Springfield. He said legal recreational marijuana became almost inevitable after Illinois lawmakers approved medical marijuana back in 2013. "When you...

The State of Illinois may be among one of the next states to legalize recreational marijuana, according to a study by financial news company. 24/7 Wall St. recently published a report ranking Illinois as one of "the next 15 states to legalize marijuana," reporting that "few states seem as...

Indiana state Rep. Jim Lucas will tour the PDI Medical cannabis dispensary at 1623 Barclay Blvd. in Buffalo Grove on Nov. 16 as part of a fact-finding trip by the chief sponsor of that state's proposed medical cannabis legislation. He is the guest of the Illinois Department of Financial and...

Metro-east residents who cross the Mississippi River and get busted for weed face stiffer penalties in Missouri than they do in Illinois. But maybe not for long. A St. Louis alderwoman has proposed a bill that would direct police not to spend their time and energy enforcing marijuana laws on...

I had a lot of trouble finding any doctors in Southern Illinois who would recommend MMJ. I finally called a dispensary and they referred me to "Pied Pheifer compassionate care clinic" , who upon contacting them, said they could recommend me in one visit, $260 cash only. I knew I was going into...

Cook County Commissioner John Fritchey renewed calls to legalize recreational marijuana in Illinois Wednesday. Fritchey called the action "taxpayer relief." As the battle over the county's sweetened beverage tax continues, Fritchey said residents have reached their limit on new taxes...

In a joint House-Senate committee hearing Sept. 6, Illinois lawmakers heard testimony from a variety of experts on bills to legalize recreational marijuana. Former Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division Director Lewis Koski testified before the committee on Colorado's experience with...

Monica Gutierrez wants to be an intellectual property lawyer. But here she is, sitting in a law class on marijuana. The gray area between state and federal law intrigues Gutierrez – she needs to learn how to help cannabis businesses get their names federally registered, she said – and she's...

Illinois' medical-cannabis pilot program has gained thousands of patients in the past year, and retail sales at dispensaries last month were more than double what they were in July 2016. There are now 23,300 patients in the state approved to use medical cannabis, well over double the number...

A company behind a wildly popular card game is teaming up with a charity in an effort to push for marijuana legalization in the state of Illinois. Cards Against Humanity recently released its "Weed Pack," which features 30 new cards and is currently for sale on the company's website. On...

A bill in the Illinois General Assembly would legalize the production and sale of hemp. Senate Bill 1294 creates the Industrial Hemp Act, which would require licensing for any person desiring to grow, process, cultivate, harvest, process, possess, sell or purchase industrial hemp or...

A bill in the Illinois General Assembly that would allow hemp to be grown legally in the state could mark a major shift for medical marijuana growers if approved. Medical Cannabis Alliance of Illinois Chairman Ross Morreale tells the Chicago Tribune that the pending legislation could help...

In the fall of 2015, a woman named "Sage" – an alias she requested to protect her privacy – and another person were driving down Interstate 80. The duo was travelling east from Oregon: one of the eight states in the U.S. where recreational marijuana is legal. Autumn in the northwest U.S. is...

A push to solve the state's fiscal crisis by legalizing marijuana will continue in January when lawmakers return to Springfield for a new session, one of the lawmakers behind the effort said. Two bills authored by state Sen. Heather Steans and state Rep. Kelly Cassidy, both from Edgewater...

A bill that would allow Illinois farmers to grow industrial hemp is heading to the House. It passed out of the Senate last month. Current state law lets universities with four-year agricultural science programs grow hemp. The new measure would expand that to include all farmers...

Farmers in Illinois are one step closer to being allowed to grow industrial hemp. A bill sponsored by Sen. Toi Hutchinson, D-Olympia Fields, passed unanimously in the Senate this month and now goes to the House. While the state currently allows universities offering four-year agricultural...