How Have Illinois Cannabis Laws Evolved?

Recently there has been a lot of power behind the cannabis legalization movement. As a result of this push towards the change of Illinois cannabis laws, marijuana is now legal. Despite the new history with cannabis being forged, Illinois wasn’t always this way.

Recent Evolution of Illinois Cannabis Laws

Over the years, there have been a lot of changes to the laws concerning cannabis. This ranges from the legal status to the drug to the penalties due to changing laws. There is a long and colorful history concerning the evolution of Illinois cannabis laws, even if they aren’t quite finished evolving yet.

Classification

In only eleven states, marijuana is legal, and in the rest, it still counts as a class one drug. Cannabis is classified the same way methamphetamines and cocaine are. The issue with this classification level is that it doesn’t tell the whole picture.

Things like cultivation are a felony no matter how many plants it is, as is selling or trading an old pipe to a friend. The first and second offenses of being caught with the drug are only misdemeanors depending on the amount you were caught with. As a result of this criminal classification, anyone caught with marijuana could ruin their future.

Reason for Classification

If any of you had to sit through D.A.R.E. or had children that went through it, you know that they demonized marijuana and told people that it was a gateway drug. This means that if they smoked cannabis, even once they might want to do crazy drugs next, which has been proven incorrect.

When the prevalence of deaths due to the use of oxycodone, this classification is ridiculous. Despite the high death count due to the oxycodone epidemic, it is only a class two drug.

Yet, the reason for the illegalization of a prevalent drug before this classification was a response to the insurgence of Mexican immigration in the early 1900s and an attempt to control these new citizens. The demonization of this drug continued, blaming the violence of minorities towards white people and a significant amount of other unfounded things. This led to Richard Nixon signing marijuana into a class one drug.

The history behind the illegalization of cannabis is mostly political, as many things are, and so this is being legalized with politics. In many other states, there are inequalities with the new marijuana businesses, and there are new programs enstated by the government to try and keep these racial and political things from repeating themselves in a similar manner.

Former Penalties

Obviously, depending on the amount of marijuana and the intent of the drug, the penalties were different. Not only that, but the differences changed depending on where you were, if you crossed state lines, or even if you were lending some to a friend. Fines for first offenders were common, but even commoner was imprisoning people for these minor drug offenses.

There were heavy fines and jail for people that got caught with cannabis before it was legalized. This affected a lot of people, but specifically areas with lower socio-economic backgrounds.

New Cannabis Laws

Even with the legalization of marijuana in Illinois, there are still a lot of rules and regulations that everyone needs to follow. There will be an Illinois tax on the products sold and trying to buy from unlicensed people to get around this is illegal. Growing your own plants is still illegal too, so going to licensed dispensaries with a medical marijuana card is the only option.

Legality as of 2019

Since August 2018 and as of 2019, it’s legal to use medical cannabis in the state of Illinois. This is a huge step in the right direction, especially with the legalization of marijuana throughout the country. This means that getting a card for medical marijuana allows for the possession and use of this newly legal medicine.

Eleventh State to Legalize Medical Cannabis

Illinois is the eleventh state in the country to legalize the use of medical cannabis on a statewide level. This means that Illinois marijuana laws have changed significantly, almost overnight.

There are still some obvious laws to follow. For example, the personal growth of cannabis without the proper permits is illegal as it was before. There will be a lot of other states to follow now that more than a fifth of the United States has cannabis legalized in some capacity.

How Does This Effect Us?

No one lives in a vacuum, meaning that no matter what happens in the world, you’re likely to be impacted in some way. It is the same for the changes happening in Illinois. New laws concerning the funding of new businesses due to the recent Illinois cannabis legalization are going to make an impression on the rest of the country when the time comes.

Minority Under-Representation

Minorities are often under-represented in the business of marijuana dispensaries. In Illinois, this problem is already being addressed despite its recent legalization. Programs will be instated to give certain groups a boost to put them on a level playing field.

Since a person pursuing this line of business cannot go to the bank and get a loan, the person either needs backers or independent wealth. This means the opportunity to own a dispensary business for the average person with education and various programs.

Medical Marijuana Is Important

Getting the card can help people with a range of debilitating diseases. Spreading the legalization of cannabis to other states helps tons of other people. With the ability to access marijuana as a treatment, a lot of people can benefit. It’s important to recognize that this is an important achievement to the state of Illinois even if it isn’t monumental to most people. Patients under the medical program will have access to stronger products, receive priority over inventory, and have the legal ability to grow up to 5 plants of their own medicine. Our certification process makes it convenient to obtain this access!

Importance of Legalization

The new Illinois cannabis laws are important both statewide to many people who need medical marijuana. Marijuana is now for sale, and Compassionate already has six different stores throughout the state of Illinois.

Once you obtain your medical marijuana card, check out our shop for some great marijuana-infused products.