Marijuana Legalization Hearings, Support Coalition Announced

CHICAGO, IL — State lawmakers unveiled a coalition in support of their bill to legalize recreational marijuana, as Sen. Heather Steans (D, IL-7) and Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D, IL-14) announced plans to hold the first subject matter hearings about the proposal next Wednesday in Chicago.

"I believe that we can make this a bipartisan bill," Steans said. "There's no reason it shouldn't be." Other states that have legalized cannabis have done so through referendum.

"People evolve much more quickly than politicians," said Rep. Kelly Cassidy, the House co-sponsor. “Legalizing recreational marijuana will bring in hundreds of millions of dollars to the state. We’re discussing all sorts of proposals to end the budget impasse, and we thought this should be part of the conversation as well."

She said the hearings would allow state lawmakers to share their concerns through hearings and incorporate any changes into the law before it took effect. Both lawmakers said the bill would not come to a vote before next year's legislative session.

A March 27 poll found more than two thirds of registered Illinois voters supported the legalization and taxation of recreational marijuana. About three-quarters of voters support decriminalization, the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute poll said. Projections from the pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project suggest it could generate $350 to $700 million in revenue.

Under the Steans-Cassidy legislation, half the tax revenue from the sale of cannabis would go to support the state's Board of Education and treatment and education programs about alcohol, tobacco and marijuana, with the other half going to the state’s general revenue fund.

» More: Marijuana Legalization Bill Introduced In Springfield

"Regulation is the best way to protect the safety and health of our kids. Prohibition is not the answer," said Al Sharp, a minister and representative of Clergy for a New Drug Policy, a Chicago-based national organization supporting the proposal. Other groups involved in the new coalition include Doctors for Cannabis Regulation, Students for an Effective Drug Policy, and Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP).

LEAP's Brian Gaugahn said legalization could reduce violence by taking that "profit margin away from street gangs and drugs cartels and put[ting] it into a controlled and regulated business."

"You don't have to like alcohol to understand that alcohol prohibition was a miserable failure," said Chris Lindsey, legal counsel for the Marijuana Policy Project and spokesperson for the newly-formed group pushing for legalization of cannabis in Illinois.

“It is time for Illinois to regulate marijuana similarly to alcohol," he said. Current policy "causes more harm than good to the individual and society," and "these bills are exactly what Illinois needs."

“Rep. Cassidy and I are committed to gathering feedback about how legalizing recreational marijuana would affect the state from a large variety of interest groups,” Sen. Steans said. “We have received overwhelming support for this legislation but do not plan to move forward hastily."

In addition to next week's hearings, the two Democratic state lawmakers announced the creation of the Coalition for a Safer Illinois. It aims to replace "the harmful and ineffective prohibition of marijuana with sensible regulations and taxation," according to its website. So far, the coalition includes six organizations that have endorsed the legislation.

A spokesperson for Gov. Bruce Rauner did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday. On March 23, he told WGN Radio he had not studied the issue.

The first hearing has been scheduled for April 19 at noon at the Bilandic Building at 160 North LaSalle St.

» Watch video: Sen. Steans and Rep. Cassidy's Wednesday press event: