EXEC:ILLINOIS REC BILL “TRAGICALLY FLAWED”
The 500+ page bill which could soon legalize REC in Illinois is “tragically flawed,” according to a scathing three-page memo by a lawyer and cannabis entrepreneur. State lawmakers could vote on SB. 7 this week.
- If the bill becomes law, Illinois would be the first state to pass in-depth regulations at the same time it legalizes REC.
Jonathan Loiterman who wrote the memo is CEO of Green Star Growing (Oregon). If the bill passes, it would likely freeze his company out of the Illinois market.
Among Loiterman’s criticisms:
- The law would guarantee about 85% of the state’s supply– approx 2M square feet of canopy — to about six large firms who received MED licenses in the 2015 pilot program.
- The owners of those firms are not disclosed to the public.
Chicago Tribune - Under the bill, Loiterman predicts tax revenues would fall below expectations and the illegal market would thrive.
- He also expects the bill would undermine its own equity component, “Unless your definition of ‘social justice’ includes handing permanent dominance of a multi-billion dollar industry to a tiny group [of] Illinois’ political eliite.”
Quick Hit
- Almost three years after legalizing, Maine has a plan for REC sales.
NPR - The New Yorker reports on how legalization changed Humboldt. I covered similar territory last year in this HuffPost dispatch.
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