Pritzker touts Illinois pot legalization as model for other states

ILLINOIS - Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday bragged that Illinois legalized pot in a way that repairs "past harms" of the war on drugs and should be a model for other states.

"We built out the most equitable, accessible and prosperous cannabis ecosystem in the nation, and it’s one that helps repair our past harms," Pritzker told a crowd gathered at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in downtown Chicago.

Since pot was legalized in 2020 in the state by the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, pot shops have raked in more than $669 million in sales and added more than 30,000 jobs, Pritzker said.

When Illinois became the 11th state to fully legalize marijuana, it also included provisions to bolster social equity and address past convictions. Since the law was passed, more than 80,000 low-level pot convictions were pardoned, Pritzker said.

Illinois has also rolled out pot business licenses to "social equity candidates," or people who had been affected by the war on drugs and harsh pot law sentencing. Nearly 50 social equity licensees have opened businesses in the state, Pritzker said.

Addressing criticism that Illinois hasn’t issued enough pot business licenses, Pritzker said that was done on purpose to keep the market profitable for new social equity license holders.

One challenge that social equity license holders face is struggling to get capital to launch their business. Pritzker urged people to invest in those minority-owned pot businesses.

"While in many states, legalization of cannabis has produced a multibillion-dollar industry that lacks diversity and is dominated by an oligopoly of corporations and, really, only high net-worth individuals, here in the Land of Lincoln, we’re trying to do things differently," Pritzker said.