Illinois’ plan was always ambitious—sign a recreational marijuana law into law in June 2019 and have a retail market up and running by January 1, 2020. The hope was that the 55 existing medical marijuana dispensaries could transition quickly into recreational dispensaries and each open a secondary site, giving the state 110 recreational dispensaries at the start of the year.
Read MoreAt a meeting on Tuesday night that spanned over three hours and was attended by hundreds of individuals wearing “opt out” t-shirts, the Naperville City Council officially voted (6-3) to opt out of recreational marijuana sales in Illinois’s fourth largest city. This is not the final resolution of the issue, however, despite some reporting to the contrary.
Read MoreAs we wrote about here and discussed on the latest episode of our podcast, there has been a debate recently about the proper interpretation of the word “location” in Illinois’s Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act.
Read MoreIllinois remains the epicenter of marijuana legalization in 2019. During August alone, Illinois has passed new legislation expanding and cementing its medical marijuana program, and shown necessary flexibility as it attempts to get its recreational market off the ground by January 1, 2020.
Read MoreRyan Holz, Doug Sargent, David Standa and Irina Dashevsky will be presenting at the Celesq AttorneysEd Center Webinar, The Land of Lincoln (and Weed): An Analysis of Illinois’s Recreational Marijuana Law, on July 23, 2019.
Read MoreMarijuana-related employment lawsuits are on the rise as more workers who have been fired or denied a job over their marijuana use are utilizing litigation to challenge the decisions. This, in turn, is forcing employers to formulate new strategies to balance the risk of litigation against the possibility of impaired employees hurting someone on the job, damaging the business, or possibly even worse.
Read MoreToday, Governor Pritzker signed into law the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (the “Act”) that was passed by the Illinois General Assembly on May 31, 2019. There was never any question about whether Governor Pritzker would sign the Act, but today’s signing is significant in that it officially starts the clock on certain provisions.
Read MoreWisconsin has long been known for its progressive politics. Yet on one of the more progressive issues of the era—the legalization of marijuana for recreational and/or medical use—Wisconsin has made essentially no progress. It is among the minority of states that have not legalized marijuana for any purpose.
Read MoreIt’s all over but the shouting. The Illinois House today passed the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, two days after the same billed passed through the Illinois Senate. Governor Pritzker is expected to sign the bill shortly, making Illinois the 11th state to approve marijuana for adult use, and the first to create an adult-use marijuana market via legislation. Marijuana will be legal for adult recreational use on January 1, 2020.
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