Posted by BLUNT Media Network on Jun 30th 2019
Illinois Is Legal - But Don't Go Thanking Anyone Yet!
On Tuesday (June 25) Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the Cannabis Tax and Regulation Act, making Illinois the 11th state to legalize adult-use cannabis.
This historic legislation - which will take effect Jan. 1, 2020 - will create adult use markets in the country’s sixth most populous state, expunge more than 700,000 criminal records of minor marijuana offenders, guarantee that a portion of cannabis sales revenues will return to communities devastated by the federal war on drugs, allocate jobs, training and cannabis business opportunities for minorities and residents of financially distressed communities and legalize marijuana use for Illinois resident and visiting adults.
Seven... hundred... thousand. Seven hundred thousand weed cases in Illinois alone.
Other states have tried and failed to enact cannabis reform thus far 2019. Illinois got it done in large part thanks to the efforts of long-time social justice advocates and leaders in the state legislature, starting with the governor.
Weedmaps would have you rushing to send "Thank You" notes to Governor Pritzker in Springfield to let them know you appreciate their work to end the harmful war on drugs and bringing safe, legal access to Illinois and you still can by visiting One Click Politics. We however think you should be aware of the real people leading the revolution to legalize medical and recreational marijuana, not just in Illinois, but across the globe.
With big industry comes big money and with big money comes big buy outs.This list does not include any brand, shop, or dispensaries... although there are a few wonderful companies that started right here in Illinois! The industry grows and those of us trying to protect it for as long as we can work together behind the scenes in the senate and legislative levels by volunteers from all walks of life bringing their expertise in other areas to the community and working together for one common goal.
Chicago took everyone by surprise. It's known that corruption has run Illinois court systems since the 40's so bad they had to write a musical about it. Not much has changed sadly as Illinois has played a dirty game when it comes to marijuana, often bringing it up in family cases it doesn't belong in, treating it like a criminal drug when used medicinally and even taking children away from loving homes simply because of a medical marijuana card they themselves handed out for weed they themselves grow to gain tax they profit from. Chicago is rampant with crime, not because of the people, but because the criminal system is flawed. In fact, the closer to Cook (Crook County) County Illinois or downtown Chicago you reside, the more likely you are to become a victim of the state. That brings us to our first group of people. A disability group lead by a mother who was beaten and left for dead with her 2 year old son and had to call police for help, however after a lengthy custody case and "forcefully silencing her in ways she still has nightmares about" to throwing a disabled mother with no even a traffic violation on her record into custody so she couldn't reach out for help. Pit this with withdrawls from epilepsy medication and cannabis to stop the seizures and you're left with a mother who has a brain injury and hasn't seen her child in 3 years due to a medical card. They let her abuser control her life and abuse her in court and when nothing would come forward, marijuana.
This may cause someone to give up after losing their marriage, home, sanity, and child but instead, the mother instead spent every painstaking moment away from her child researching, and then advocating, and then protesting and eventually legislating the protections of families that have someone in need of medical marijuana in their lives, preventing any state from doing to any parent what they've done to her family. She's hoping to see her son again in January.
"It's bittersweet," she sighs. "At first glance it's blatant entrapment. They don't even treat people on opiates this way." And she's right, having her rights stripped from her, being labeled involved with drugs, treated like a criminal against the very man who attempted to kill and dispose of her, the one whom now has custody of the child.
"It's bittersweet because while I know I finally get to see my son again I also know I will have to explain to a child that I never left and never had a problem with drugs. They've made me a monster in the eyes of my child,ignored blatant cries of abuse, even blocked me from wellness checks. I'm happy we are preventing this from happening to other children. It's a brutal feeling having to live without your child, knowing they need you and there's nothing you can do about it. I haven't celebrated a holiday since then. We're reuniting mothers with their children but I don't even know if mine is alive anymore. All I learned from this experience is when you get hurt, don't ask for help. Don't call the police. Don't go to court. Don't do the right thing because your government doesn't give a shit about protecting you. If anything I know I had a part in changing that."
The mother, known as Kimber, has kept herself busy by networking with other businesses and collecting a database of CBD companies willing to put their stuff to the test. She's the founder of Natural Healthy CBD, the first mutlibrand CBD shop that lists all labs as well as helping assist the disabled community in service dog law. She leads the online trust, lab testing every single product as well as opening her media company BLUNT this April, an automatic advertising platform for cannabis to influencer ads and review. Seems like a productive woman to me!
On the note of productive women, we'd like you to take a look at Women In Cannabis, an advocacy group and/or movement we found on instagram. They provide so many educational and inspirational posts as well as assistance within the industry for both business and medical! They are known for great posts like the following:
Check out Women in Cannabis for Illinois here!
Next, a group that you've all probably heard form, NORML. NORML has charters in every state too! The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws is an American non-profit organization based in Washington, DC whose aim is to move public opinion sufficiently to achieve the legalization of marijuana!
Click here to visit them!
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