Illinois cannabis companies argue to relieve state “abrupt license costs” and “too heavy” regulations.
The state representative of the Shawn Ford, joining several of these business owners on Sunday during a press conference near the west side, urged her colleagues to the General Assembly of Illinois to reform the recreational and medical laws of the State cannabis to give licensees on social equity a fair playground on the market.
“The recreational legalization of cannabis … was really sold in the general assembly and the community to end the war against drugs and to help rebuild the communities which were the hardest affected,” said Ford, who has long defended the efforts of social equity in the legal marijuana industry.
“The truth is that the dream of being the owner of a cannabis company in Illinois is far from abbreviated,” said Ford, who represents parts on the west side of Chicago in the Legislative Assembly.
Patricia Van Pelt, a former state senator who represented parts on the west side until 2023, also joined the Sunday press conference. She pleaded to legalize recreational cannabis while she was in power. But she withdrew as a co-sponsor of the legalization bill after Reports on its investments in cannabis companies.
“When I stood and negotiated for this bill, I thought we were helping the community,” said Van Pelt, who now co -chairs black cannabis operators. “What I have seen in recent years have been surprising for me. We never wanted to finance the black community. We never wanted to let them wade and try to survive without a canoe and no help. ”
Van Pelt listed four “urgent requests” to help the cannabis industry survive and give owners of small businesses a chance to prosper:
- Put a moratorium on license costs and offer a credit for the costs paid before the dispensary is operational.
- Offer equitable access to the capital and financing of subsidies to “ensure the growth and stability of approved operators”.
- Modify “too heavy” regulations and reduce “crushing taxes” that push customers to “illicit markets” or dispensaries in neighboring states with lower tax rates.
- Allow customers with medical cannabis cards to shop in any authorized dispensary.
There is currently no legislation in the work to respond to these requests, but Ford told Sun-Totes that he intended to write a bill which includes these problems.
“We are actively working to find common ground to adopt legislation that supports Capital Companies of Cannabis, current non -social equity companies and holders of conditional licenses in the cannabis industry,” said Ford.
Ambrose Jackson, owner of the Parkway Dispensary in Tilton and Fox Lake, said it had taken him four years to obtain his cannabis dispensary license.
“The dispensaries of social equity open the doors to discover that they cannot even break, even less to take advantage,” said Jackson, who is also co -president of black cannabis operators.
One problem is that the state has not issued new licenses to sell medical cannabis since legalization in 2013, said Jackson. Patients with medical marijuana cards can buy products at reduced prices, but only in dispensaries authorized to sell medical cannabis. Jackson and other business owners want the condition to allow patients to use their card in any authorized dispensary.
“I hear medical patients who are in shock of pain and … having to drive more than 50 miles after their local dispensary for medical relief, while wasting their time and their money on petrol,” said Jackson. “It has passed that we increase access to medical patients and allow them to receive their legal delivery in any authorized Illinois dispensary.”