CHICAGO Sponsors of a proposal to regulate and tax marijuana for adult use in Illinois will join local and national marijuana policy reform advocates for a news conference on Wednesday to announce the next step for the legislation and launch a coalition that will support it. The event is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. CT in the James R. Thompson Center Press Room on the 15th floor.
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.
WHAT: News conference to launch the Coalition for a Safer Illinois and announce the next step for legislation to regulate and tax marijuana for adult use
WHEN: Wednesday, April 12, 10 a.m. CT
WHERE: James R. Thompson Center Press Room, 15th Floor, 100 W. Randolph Street, Chicago
WHO: Sen. Heather Steans, sponsor of SB 316
Rep. Kelly Cassidy, sponsor of HB 2353
Rev. Alexander Sharp, Chicago-based executive director of Clergy for a New Drug Policy
Chris Lindsey, legislative counsel for the Marijuana Policy Project
Additional members of the Coalition for a Safer Illinois
The Coalition for a Safer Illinois is a coalition of citizens, community leaders, and local and national organizations that support ending marijuana prohibition in Illinois and replacing it with a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed similarly to alcohol.