Majority Favors Cannabis Businesses In Wilmette, Survey Suggests

WILMETTE, IL — Fewer than 30 percent of Wilmette-Kenilworth Patch readers who who participated to a recent poll have visited a recreational marijuana dispensary in the six months after the legalization of cannabis in Illinois, but almost twice that number favor allowing cannabis businesses in village limits.

Wilmette voters will be asked whether they favor permitting local cannabis business in a non-binding question on the November ballot. When asked if local officials should allow marijuana shops in town, nearly 59 percent of self-identified Wilmette and Kenilworth respondents to the unscientific survey favored opting in.

More than 70 percent of Wilmette-Kenilworth Patch readers who responded said the state legislature made the right decision when it voted to legalize the possession and sale of recreational cannabis last year. That's 5 percent less than average among the poll's nearly 1,700 north suburban respondents.

Local respondents broadly shared the view of their North Shore counterparts when it comes to how the implementation of cannabis legalization has proceeded when compared to expectations.

Respondents who supported allowing recreational marijuana businesses in town were asked where they would like the tax revenue to be allocated. The most common responses were infrastructure, schools, and property tax relief.

When respondents were asked what they would change about the state's cannabis rules, Wilmette-Kenilworth Patch readers were mostly supportive of existing regulations. A few suggested allowing buyers to see products before buying them, allowing Amsterdam-style "coffeeshops" and reducing the opportunities for politicians to determine who gets a license.

"Try to make it easier for employers to navigate laws surrounding use, avoid mishmash of politicians pushing different legislation that confuses the issues," one respondent said.

"I'm more of a libertarian and would legalize all drugs in an effort to 'defund' Chicago street gangs and Mexican narco cartels; who are killing tens of thousands of people a year and destroying more lives than addicts," another suggested. "Much easier to help addicts if you can meet them at the dispensary."