Illinois cannabis business owners are pleading for relief from the state’s “steep licensing fees” and “overly burdensome” regulations.
State Rep. La Shawn Ford, joining several of those business owners Sunday at a news conference on the Near West Side, urged his colleagues in the Illinois General Assembly to reform the state’s recreational and medical cannabis laws to give social equity licensees a fair playing field in the market.
“Recreational cannabis legalization … was really sold to the General Assembly and the community to end the war on drugs and to help rebuild the communities that were hardest hit,” said Ford, who has long championed social equity efforts in the state’s legal marijuana industry.
“The truth is the dream of being a cannabis business owner in Illinois is falling far short,” said Ford, who represents parts of Chicago’s West Side in the Legislature.
Patricia Van Pelt, a former state senator who represented parts of the West Side until 2023, also joined Sunday’s news conference. She advocated for legalizing recreational cannabis while she was in office. But she removed herself as a co-sponsor of the legalization bill after news reports on her investments in cannabis-related businesses.
“When I stood and negotiated for this bill, I believed that we were bringing help to the community,” said Van Pelt, who now co-chairs Black Cannabis Operators. “What I’ve seen happen across these last few years has been astonishing to me. We never meant to defund the Black community. We never meant to leave them floundering and trying to survive with no lifeboat and no help.”
Van Pelt listed four “urgent demands” to help the cannabis industry survive and give small business owners a chance to thrive:
Put a moratorium on licensing fees and provide a credit for fees paid before the dispensary was operational.
Provide equitable access to capital and grant funding to “ensure the growth and stability of licensed operators.”
Amend “overly burdensome” regulations and reduce the “crushing taxes” that drive customers to “illicit markets” or to dispensaries in nearby states with lower tax rates.
Allow customers with medical cannabis cards to shop at any licensed dispensary.
There is currently no legislation in the works to address these demands, but Ford told the Sun-Times he intends to draft a bill that includes those issues.
“We are actively working to find common ground to pass legislation that supports cannabis social equity businesses, current non-social equity businesses, and conditional license holders in the cannabis industry,” Ford said.
Ambrose Jackson, owner of Parkway Dispensary in Tilton and Fox Lake, said it took him four years to obtain his cannabis dispensary license.
“Social equity dispensaries are opening the doors to find out they can’t even break even, much less make a profit,” said Jackson, who is also a co-chair of Black Cannabis Operators.
One issue is the state hasn’t issued new licenses to sell medical cannabis since legalizing it in 2013, Jackson said. Patients with medical marijuana cards can purchase products at a discount but only at dispensaries licensed to sell medical cannabis. Jackson and the other business owners want the state to allow patients to use their card at any licensed dispensary.
“I hear from medical patients who are reeling from the pain and … having to drive 50 plus miles past their local dispensary for medical relief, while wasting their time and money on gas,” Jackson said. “It’s past time we increase access to medical patients and allow them to receive their lawful discount at any licensed Illinois dispensary.”
Rep. La Shawn Ford joined several of business on owners Sunday called on state lawmakers colleagues to reform the state’s recreational and medical cannabis laws to give social equity licensees a fair playing field in the market. Read More
