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- Illinois became the first state to pass a bill legalizing marijuana sales through the legislature on Friday.
- The bill is now awaiting Governor JB Pritzker's signature, who made legalizing marijuana a core component of his campaign for governor's office.
- Marijuana sales are set to go live in Illinois on January 1, 2020.
- Recreational marijuana is now legal in 11 states; medical marijuana is legal in 33.
Illinois lawmakers on Friday passed a bill that legalizes the posession and commercial sale of marijuana in the state.
The bill is awaiting Governor JB Pritzker's signature, who is expected to sign the bill after making marijuana legalization a core component of his campaign for the governor's office.
The bill contains a sweeping criminal justice component, expunging the records of potentially hundreds of thousands Illinois residents who have previously been convicted for possessing marijuana under previous laws. Up to 770,000 Illinois residents may qualify for expungement, according to ABC News.
The bill will also proactively create opportunities for minority business owners to capitalize on the new industry.
Legal marijuana sales in the state are expected to start on January 1, 2020, as the states' 55 medical marijuana dispensaries will be permitted to flip to recreational sales, reports The Chicago Tribune.
"The state of Illinois just made history, legalizing adult-use cannabis with the most equity-centric approach in the nation," Pritzker wrote on his official Facebook page. "This will have a transformational impact on our state, creating opportunity in the communities that need it most and giving so many a second chance."
For its part, Illinois will be the first state to legalize marijuana sales through the state legislature — rather than a ballot initiative — once Pritzker signs the bill into law.
The past year has been a banner year for marijuana legalization.
In last year's midterm elections, Michigan became the 10th state to legalize recreational marijuana, and Utah and Missouri voted to legalize medical marijuana. Deep-red Oklahoma also voted to legalize medical marijuana last year, joining numerous other states that have such laws on the books.
Vermont became the first state to legalize marijuana posessions — not sale — through its legislature last year as well, rather than a ballot initiative when the governor signed the bill into law.
And, President Donald Trump also signed the bipartisan Farm Bill into law last December, which legalized hemp — a plant that's roughly identical to marijuana but doesn't contain THC, a psychoactive compound in marijuana — nationwide.
Hemp is also a source of CBD, or cannabidiol, a popular, if scientifically untested ingredient in many cannabis-infused products.
Eleven states and Washington, DC, have now legalized marijuana for recreational use for adults over 21. And 33 states have legalized medical marijuana.
And last October, Canada legalized marijuana federally, becoming the first G7 country to do.
Mexico's Supreme Court also ruled that marijuana prohibition is unconstitutional, paving the way for the country's new leader, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to follow Canada's lead.
Marijuana prohibition began 80 years ago when the federal government banned the sale, cultivation, and use of the cannabis plant. It remains illegal at the federal level.
Overturning prohibition is one of the few hot-button topics with widespread support.
A recent poll by the Pew Research Center found that 62% of Americans, including 74% of millennials, said they supported legalizing marijuana.
Melia Robinson contributed to an earlier version of this post.
Alaska
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Adults 21 and over can light up in Alaska. In early 2015, the northernmost US state made it legal for residents to use, possess, and transport up to an ounce of marijuana— roughly a sandwich bag full — for recreational use. The first pot shop opened for business in late 2016.
Alaska has pounced on the opportunity to make its recreational pot shops a destination for tourists. More than two million people visit Alaska annually and spend $2 billion.
California
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California was the first state to legalize medical marijuana back in 1996. California became even more pot-friendly in 2016 when it made it legal to use and carry up to an ounce of marijuana.
The law also permits adults 21 and over to buy up to eight grams of marijuana concentrates, which are found in edibles, and grow no more than six marijuana plants per household.
Getting Californians to buy legal weed — rather than from the black market — has been challenging since the law took effect, The New York Times reports.
Colorado
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In Colorado, there are more marijuana dispensaries than Starbucks and McDonalds locations combined. The state joined Washington in becoming the first two states to fully legalize the drug in 2012.
Residents and tourists over the age of 21 can buy up to one ounce of marijuana or eight grams of concentrates. Some Colorado counties and cities have passed more restrictive laws.
Maine
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A ballot initiative in 2016 gave Mainers the right to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana, more than double the limit in most other states.
Maine's legislature is still ironing out the details of how, and when, recreational pot shops will open in the state.
Massachusetts
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In 2016, Massachusetts gave residents the green light to carry and use an ounce of marijuana and grow up to 12 plants in their homes.
The first pot shops opened in the state last year, with more to come in 2019, reports The Boston Globe.
Michigan
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Voters in Michigan passed Proposition 1 last year, making it the first state in the Midwest to legalize the possession and sale of marijuana for adults over the age of 21. The bill allows adults to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and allows residents to grow up to 12 plants at home.
The law is more permissive than other states with legal marijuana: Most allow residents to only possess up to an ounce at a time.
Nevada
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Residents and tourists who are 21 and over can buy an ounce of marijuana or one-eighth of an ounce of edibles or concentrates in Nevada — while supplies last. Less than two weeks after sales of recreational weed began on July 1, 2017, many stores ran out of marijuana to sell.
The state has earned nearly $20 million in marijuana tax revenuesince the market launched.
There's bad news if you want to grow your own bud, though. Nevada residents must live 25 miles outside the nearest dispensary in order to be eligible for a grower's license.
Oregon
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Oregonians have enjoyed the right to carry an ounce of weed and grow up to four plants at home since 2015.
Sales in Oregon pot shops have exploded since legalization: they're expected to top $1 billion by 2020, reports The Portland Business Journal.
Vermont
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Vermont became the first state to legalize marijuana through the legislature, rather than a ballot initiative, when Republic Governor Phil Scott signed a bill into law in January of last year.
Adults in the Green Mountain State will be able to carry up to an ounce of marijuana and grow no more than two plants for recreational use. The new law goes into effect in July. But the bill is limited in scope. It doesn't establish a legal market for production and sale of the drug.
Washington
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Dispensaries in Washington have raked in over $1 billion in non-medical marijuana sales since the drug was legalized for recreational use in 2012.
The state allows people to carry up to an ounce of marijuana, but they must require the drug for medicinal purposes in order to be eligible for a grower's license.
Washington D.C.
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Residents in the nation's capital voted overwhelmingly to legalize marijuana for adult use in November 2014.
The bill took effect in 2015, allowing people to possess two ounces or less of marijuana and "gift" up to an ounce, if neither money nor goods or services are exchanged.
Illinois
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Illinois lawmakers on Friday passed a bill that legalizes the posession and commercial sale of marijuana in the state.
The bill is awaiting Governor JB Pritzker's signature, who is expected to sign the bill after making marijuana legalization a core component of his campaign for the governor's office.
Legal marijuana sales in the state are expected to start on January 1, as the states 55 medical marijuana dispensaries will be permitted to flip to recreational sales, reports The Chicago Tribune.
For its part, Illinois will be the first state to legalize marijuana sales through the state legislature — rather than a ballot initiative — once Pritzker signs the bill into law.
New York and New Jersey may be next.
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Since Massachusetts opened its first pot shops in November, states around the Northeast are hopping aboard the green train.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo made legalizing marijuana a top priority for the first hundred days of his third term as governor, though that hasn't panned out. New York's legislative session ends on June 19, and it's unlikely a marijuana bill will be passed before then.
And while New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy hasn't yet given up on legalization, it's not likely to happen this year after lawmakers couldn't reach an agreement on a marijuana legalization bill.
While the federal government under President Trump is no friend to marijuana reform laws, it's likely that we'll see action from Congress — with a Democrat-controlled House — easing tax burdens and banking restrictions on marijuana businesses, and expanding access to medical marijuana.