State Raking In A Half-Billion In Weed Taxes Neglects Social Equity Participants Who Demand Action

In last year alone, Illinois raked in half-billion dollars in marijuana taxes, more than any other, except for California. Nonetheless, even with such a developed market, Illinois still has social equity issues.

Representatives of 17 organizations, the Alliance For Cannabis Equity, are calling on state regulators to remedy the situation  by reforming the social equity cannabis licensing before the legislation session ends in Springfield, reported CBS News.

What happened: Numerouis social equity cannabis license holders have faced delays for years - some because of COVID, others due to lawsuits and others a variety of issues. No matter...the problem is that these license holders have had to cool their jets while the market went on to make billions. The irony is that legislators pledged to prioritize social equity license holders.

What now: The Alliance For Cannabis Equity is urging pending adjustments in Springfield.

"We haven't even gotten to the starting line yet," said Kiana Hughes of Chicago NORML. "Nobody thought that we would be here."

Under the existing law, some social equity holders are allowed to use only 5,000 square feet to cultivate cannabis. The Alliance is trying to increase that to 14,000 square feet.

Alliance Demands

• Craft grow licensees: increasing canopy space to 14,000 square feet instead of 5,000 square feet; 
• Regulatory consolidation: unite marijuana departments into a single agency;
• Medical patients: enable medical marijuana patients to receive discounts at all dispensaries, not just the first 55;
• Criminalization: forbid the police to initiate a stop only because of cannabis; 
• Background checks: ensure that individuals with records can work and own businesses in the industry; 
• Dispensary licensees: extend the deadline for social equity dispensary owners; 
• Transporter licensees: issue a moratorium on new licenses. 

Akele Parnell, founder of Umi Farms, which has a craft grow license said,  "If we're talking about equity? The existing cultivators – the majority white-owned cultivators - get 210,000 square feet of flowering space that they can start with. That's about 50 times more than us."

Parnell would like to see the changes quickly in order to have an opportunity to run a profitable business.

"What's been so frustrating is the lack of responsiveness - especially to the most impacted people," Parnell said. "We've been asking for that for several years, and so really, all we need them to do is just act."

Department Of Financial And Professional Regulation Paints Another Picture

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation released the following statement:

"When Illinois legalized adult-use cannabis, we did something that no state had done before. We prioritized social equity so that those most affected by decades of harsh drug policy had their fair shot at the industry, not just massive corporations run by the already-wealthy. That's why Illinois has reinvested more than $144 million of tax revenue into the communities hardest hit by the War on Drugs. To date, Illinois has issued 195 conditional adult use dispensary licenses, with 20 conditional licenses receiving their full dispensary license so far.”

The Department added that thousands of new candidates applied to the upcoming Social Equity Criteria Lottery for an additional 55 adult-use dispensary licenses.

“We continue to meet and discuss with lawmakers and other stakeholders on further ways we can improve cannabis oversight to ensure Illinois' cannabis program remains the most equitable in the country,” the department concluded.

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