Washington
(AFP) - Illinois started the new year on a high note Wednesday, becoming the
latest US state to legalize recreational marijuana as the governor pardoned
thousands for past low-level cannabis convictions.
The
Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act will allow residents 21 and older to legally
purchase marijuana and will expunge thousands of individuals' criminal
convictions throughout the state.
"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," Illinois
Governor J.B. Pritzker said in a statement.
On Tuesday
night, Pritzker granted 11,017 pardons for people with low-level cannabis
convictions, the first round of a planned total of more than 700,000.
According
to the statement, the new law will use 25 percent of the state's cannabis
revenue to help "the communities hit hardest" by the earlier crackdown
on marijuana.
"Today
we took another step toward justice, as we continue to address the failed war
on drugs and the disproportionate impact it had on communities of color,"
Cook County State Attorney Kim Foxx said in the statement.
Illinois
residents age 21 and older will now be allowed to legally possess 30 grams of
cannabis, five grams of cannabis concentrate or 500 milligrams of THC -- the
main active ingredient of cannabis -- contained in a cannabis-infused product.
Non-residents
are allowed to carry 15 grams of cannabis under the bill, which will also
create a licensed growing and dispensary system.
Illinois is
the 11th state to legalize recreational marijuana, along with Washington, DC.
Thirty-four states and the federal capital permit medical cannabis treatment.
But the US
Drug Enforcement Administration still considers marijuana a dangerous substance
alongside LSD and heroin.
A study by
the federal Centers for Disease Control published in August found that states
that legalize recreational marijuana see a reduction of at least 20 percent in
fatalities linked to opioid overdoses.
Marijuana
legalization has also been shown to improve a state's economic activity,
creating jobs and bringing in new tax revenue.
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