By: burgundy bug
Illinois Sees $11 Million in Sales During First Week of Recreational Cannabis
Souce: The Burgundy Zine
New year, new legislation. After legalizing adult-use cannabis on Jan. 1, Illinois has seen a total of $10,830,667.91 from 271,169 transactions in less than one week, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation announced yesterday.
“As part of the state’s focus on equity, 25 percent of cannabis sales tax revenues will support the Restore, Reinvest and Renew (R3) program, which aims to address the impact of economic disinvestment, violence and the historical overuse of the criminal justice system,” the IDFPR states. “
The IDFPR states that 25 percent of cannabis sales tax revenue will support the Restore, Reinvest, and Renew program, which will address the economic and violent impact of the “historical overuse of the criminal justice system.”
The R3 program also aims to reduce gun violence and poverty throughout the state, in addition to protecting residents and promoting infrastructure, the Illinois Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (ILCS 705/10-40) outlines.
“The successful launch of this new industry is a historic development for our state that will benefit the very communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the failed war on drugs,” said Toi Hutchinson, Senior Advisor to the Governor for Cannabis Control. “As we move into the next phase, the Pritzker administration is proud to see the robust interest in dispensary ownership from social equity applicants, and we encourage them to apply for $30 million in loans that we have available to reduce the capital barriers to entry.”
“Unlike any state in the nation, Illinois has set the standard for what it means to legalize cannabis in a way that begins to right the wrongs of the past and gives new opportunity to those that have been left behind for far too long.”
Senior Advisor Toi Hutchinson
Criminal justice reform has been a central focus of Illinois adult-use cannabis industry, with Governor JB Pritzker pardoning 11,017 individuals charged with low-level cannabis convictions that have put them at a socio-economic disadvantage on Dec. 31, 2019, says a recent press release from the Governor’s office.
“When adult-use cannabis becomes legal, pay attention to the fact that we are beginning to accomplish four very important things: We are ending the 50-year long war on cannabis; we are restoring rights to many tens of thousands of Illinoisans; we are bringing regulation and safety to a previously unsafe and illegal market; and we are creating a new industry that puts equity at its very core,” said Gov. Pritzker. “Every state that has legalized cannabis has seen high demand and long lines in its earliest weeks, and to be sure, our state will too. But unlike other states, in Illinois, we purposely built a system where the market has room to grow, so that entrepreneurs, including especially those from the communities devastated by the war on drugs, will have real opportunities in this industry.”
The IDFR finished accepting the first round of applications for new dispensary licenses on Jan. 2, receiving over 700 applications for approximately 4,000 licenses.
“More than 600 of the applicants identified themselves as qualifying for social equity applicant status,” the IDFR says. “The Department will award up to 75 new dispensary licenses, which will be announced by May 1, 2020.”
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