Adults will be able to legally purchase recreational marijuana from licensed dispensaries in Illinois at the start of 2020, the state’s newly appointed pot czar said Friday.
State Sen. Toi Hutchinson, a Democrat recently tabbed to lead the state’s recreational marijuana program, said that retail sales will begin with the new year.
“There may be pitfalls, and we’ll deal with them as they come,” Ms. Hutchinson said in an interview, Crain’s Chicago Business reported. “The sky is not falling. We will be open for business in multiple locations around the state Jan. 1.
“Will there be challenges and pitfalls? Absolutely. But we’ll be ready on Jan. 1,” she said.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a law in June legalizing recreational marijuana within Illinois and setting the stage for licensed dispensaries to sell retail weed starting in 2020, and on Thursday he named Ms. Hutchinson, who helped craft the law, to oversee its implementation. She is slated to resign from the Senate to assume the role after more than a decade representing the solidly Democratic 40th District.
“I’ve had the opportunity to shape this state for years to come and I’m excited for this next challenge implementing the adult-use cannabis law my colleagues and I worked so hard on,” Ms. Hutchinson said in a statement.
Illinois is the 11th state to legalize recreational marijuana, which is federally prohibited on account of being categorized as a Schedule 1 drug under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act. Only seven of those states currently have laws in place allowing adults to purchase marijuana from retail dispensaries, however — Alaska, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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