Chicago Democratic Rep. Kelly Cassidy said she hopes a bill to legalize adult recreational marijuana will be approved by the General Assembly by the end of May.
According to Cassidy, the “best case scenario” would be for the first legal sales to occur by Jan. 1, 2020.
Cassidy had worked with state Sen. Heather Steans for around 2.5 years, negotiating the pieces of a potential legalization program.
It was in April that Steans said in an interview with Capitol News that the measure would be filed either April 30 or the first week of May. The language is still not available.
“It’s critically important that we don’t look at this as a magic ATM machine because it isn’t,” Cassidy said. “The reality is other states started out with crazy high taxes — 30, 40, 50 percent — and people aren’t going to break up with their dealer over that.”
The Rep. has said that there are 55 dispensaries in the state, so if recreational marijuana use becomes legal, Illinois will need to grant additional retail licenses.
“I don’t like thinking about what January 1, 2020 would look like with 55 retail outlets. That will ramp up more quickly than some of the other categories.”
