Illinois Lawmakers to Announce Next Step for Proposal to Regulate and Tax Marijuana for Adult Use; Local and National Organizations to Launch Coalition in Support of Ending Marijuana Prohibition in Illinois.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Heather Steans (D-Chicago) and Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) will discuss the details of the General Assembly’s first hearing on SB 316 and HB 2353. Rev. Alexander Sharp, Chicago-based executive director of Clergy for a New Drug Policy (CNDP), and Chris Lindsey of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), the nation’s largest marijuana policy organization, will discuss the newly formed Coalition for a Safer Illinois.

The Coalition for a Safer Illinois is made up of citizens, community leaders, and local and national organizations, including CNDP, MPP, the ACLU of Illinois, Doctors for Cannabis Regulation, Law Enforcement Action Partnership, and the Illinois chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). It will work to build support for ending marijuana prohibition in Illinois.

SB 316 and HB 2353 would make it legal for adults 21 and older to possess, grow, and purchase limited amounts of marijuana. The state would license and regulate businesses to cultivate, process, test, and sell marijuana to adults, and it would create and enforce strict health and safety regulations, such as testing and labeling requirements and restrictions on marketing.