On Jan. 1, Illinois becomes the 11th state to legalize the sale and consumption of recreational marijuana. Will Chicago and the rest of Illinois be ready to handle the experience? We wonder.
Earlier this month, Mayor Lori Lightfoot tried to clarify one vague aspect of the new state law, which bans the consumption of cannabis in “public spaces.” Does that mean lighting up anywhere on your own property is OK? Not OK? Lightfoot said that as far as Chicago is concerned, using cannabis in your own backyard or on your balcony is fine. She added that Chicago police officers are being trained “how they should use discretion in their enforcement powers to educate residents on the new legalization laws.” If the result is that all officers apply that discretion fairly and equally as everyone gets comfortable with the sudden visible use of a once-illegal drug, we’ll be both pleased, and surprised.
That’s just Chicago. From town to town across Illinois, practical application of the law will vary. One suburb may allow dispensaries, its next-door neighbor may not. One burg may say yes to pot consumption in backyards and on porches, another may say: Not cool.
Given that the advent of recreational marijuana for adults 21 and over is less than three weeks away, confusion seems certain. There are questions about law enforcement’s ability to detect when a driver is pot-impaired, whether marijuana consumption could make immigrants vulnerable to deportation, and what risks are associated with THC-infused e-cigarette products, given the vaping health crisis that swept through the nation this year.
Illinois gave itself only 180 days to create a framework for marijuana legalization. We wrote previously that the state should have given itself more time. Medical marijuana became available two years after its legalization, while the start of video gambling came three years after being signed into law.
But weed is coming, and it will be up to officials at every level of Illinois government to convey as clearly as possible information about what this new era means to residents and visitors. A bit of what we’ve gleaned, and what’s still uncertain:
Where you can buy, where you can’t: Some Chicago suburbs have banned recreational marijuana dispensaries, some have voted to allow them, and others have said no sales for the time being. The Illinois Policy Institute says towns in which no sales will be allowed come Jan. 1 include Arlington Heights, Downers Grove, Libertyville, Naperville, Orland Park, and at least 13 other suburbs. Along with Chicago, at least 19 suburbs have approved sales, including Crystal Lake, Oak Park, Schaumburg and Aurora, IPI says.
Where can you smoke, where you can’t: The law says you won’t be able to smoke in public places—sidewalks and parks for example. But condominium associations will have the power to prohibit pot smoking at their complexes, even in individual units. Few have said they would enforce a ban, though some are mulling it over. Lightfoot established ground rules for Chicago, but which suburbs will send a cop to slap tickets on pot smokers kicking back outside at home? Helps to know before lighting up.
Driving and pot: Each police department will have its hands full figuring out how to detect when a driver is pot-impaired. A Breathalyzer won’t help, and so far there’s no other standardized test to determine marijuana impairment. THC, the psychoactive component in pot, metabolizes in the body quickly but gets stored in fatty tissue and dissipates at a much slower rate. So a blood test might detect THC in a driver who hasn’t smoked in weeks. As it stands now, cops might rely on field sobriety tests used for drunken drivers, but police departments will have to tweak those tests to detect pot use.
The introduction of recreational marijuana to Illinois represents a major shift, in both legal and cultural terms, of what’s acceptable behavior. The public will be ready to consume cannabis. That’s guaranteed. We’ll see if layers of Illinois government are ready to properly enforce the rules.
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