Illinois Has Sent A Cannabis Equity Bill To The House
When it comes to the growth of the cannabis sector it goes beyond just marijuana stocks. However, even though cannabis stocks have started to look better so has the progress of the cannabis industry. For instance, many more states are voting to legalize cannabis in some fashion. Whether it be medical or recreational cannabis use any legislation that allows for legal use is progress.
There was once a time when speaking about cannabis, in general, was viewed as taboo. Yet as of today it is a multi-billion dollar industry that is continuing to grow at a fast rate. Now with more states that have gone legal, some of these states have measures in their cannabis bills that call for social equity. For the readers that don’t know social equity is a state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in certain respects.
This often includes civil rights, freedom of speech, property rights, and equal access to social goods and services. Much of the cannabis industry in legal states have in the past have lacked social equity. Especially when it comes to a certain social class in the industry. With more state-level cannabis bills that are being introduced most of them have measures that deal with the concern of social equity.
Illinois Is Working Towards Opening More Doors For Its Cannabis Market
Individual states are establishing a foundation of giving those who want a fair chance to get their piece of the legal cannabis market. As mentioned above the more states that go legal the better chances at seeing more programs that promote social equity. In recent news, Illinois has set in motion a social equity bill for the state. If this passes it will be a big win for the state’s cannabis industry.
A new piece of cannabis legislation has been drafted for the state. This particular bill would give more people from lower economic areas the path to get involved in the recreational marijuana market. This current bill is now on its way to the House floor. With lawmakers moving into the closing days of the spring 2021 session it’s possible to see this bill pass. 
“The bill will correct a flawed license lottery system that has prevented minorities from ownership in the industry,” Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, the bill’s chief sponsor, said during a news conference Thursday.
House Bill 1443 is a follow-up to the landmark legislation that passed 2 years ago. Which legalized and regulates the sale and use of recreational marijuana. Under this legislation, cannabis shops that were previously licensed to sell medical marijuana instantly became eligible to apply for recreational-use licenses. This occurred while several other licenses were set aside for so-called “social equity” candidates.
Which were to be businesses run by people from communities that were impacted by Nixon’s “war on drugs.” As well as people and family members of those who had once been prosecuted for marijuana crimes.
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The Next Step For Social Equity In Illinois
The first 75 social equity licenses were set to go out back in 2020 through a lottery system. However, licenses were put on hold when over 900 applications were filed. Furthermore, only 21 candidates produced perfect scores making them qualified to enter the lottery.
Since that time, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has given people who didn’t qualify an opportunity to improve their applications. and it plans to go through a second scoring process before determining which ones will qualify for the lottery. Ford’s proposition, however, calls for placing two more lotteries. This would allow for a total of 110 dispensary licenses to be available.
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Final Thoughts On Illinois Pushing Social Equity
One of those would be for applicants who earned a score of 85 percent and did not receive a license in the initial lottery. The other would be specifically for applicants with similar scores who have personally been convicted of a marijuana offense. As well as a family member with a past cannabis crime.
At one time Toi Hutchinson was a state senator, who currently works as Gov. JB Pritzker’s cannabis policy advisor. Toi Hutchinson this past week said during a House Executive Committee hearing that reducing the “cut score” for applicants would open the door for about 65 percent of the applicant pool to have an opportunity for a license.
Ford recognized that even with the additional lotteries, some candidates still will not get a license. Yet he mentioned it was essential to give more people from neighborhoods affected by drugs a way to get involved in the news industry.
“When this all started with working with the social equity applicants, all they asked for is a chance, and that’s what they’re asking for now,” Ford said during a committee hearing Thursday. “They understand that this is a lottery, and this is a gamble… But they really just want an opportunity to get what they paid for. And that’s what we’re trying to do right now.”
The bill passed out of the House Executive Committee by a vote of 15-0. It now heads to the full House for consideration.
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