California is the plug for Illinois’s multi-billion dollar illegal weed market

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Have you seen the prices of weed in Illinois? The state reportedly has some of the most expensive flowers in the country, averaging $ 60 per eighth. That’s a lot for a regular marijuana user, and the proof is in the numbers: a year and a half after adult cannabis was legalized, total unlicensed sales of the plant in the state continue to exceed the legal market.

The Chicago Sun Times reports that illicit cannabis sales in Illinois are $ 1.7 billion to $ 2.2 billion (depending on which cannabis research company you ask), while legal drug sales and adult sales are expected by the end of the year Will reach $ 1.2-1.9 in 2021.

The Times just released a report stating that most of the unregulated cannabis sold in Illinois without a license comes from California. Sources contacted for the article say much of the marijuana is grown in NorCal’s Emerald Triangle, in addition to indoor growing from the San Francisco Bay Area.

“A Chicago police source” told the newspaper that while the COVID-19 crisis had stretched law enforcement too thin to prosecute and prosecute cannabis crime, this year cops were back on track and cannabis Arrests for eye-level crimes recorded in 2019 – before cannabis was legalized in the state.

Of course, people predicted this would happen, considering that Illinois legalization also imposes extremely high tax rates on weed – in the state, those rates can be as high as 40 percent between state and local fees. It makes sense for consumers to resort to the unlicensed market. Who wouldn’t want to spend less money on weed?

High prices are hard work, but in some countries that taxpayer dollars go back to the community and serve good causes. In Evanston, the city council is considering a plan to use its 3 percent recreational cannabis sales tax for the country’s first black reparation fund.

Elsewhere, such cannabis justice efforts have not been seen as a success, although eliminating the harmful effects of a racist drug war was Governor JB Pritzker’s main selling point for legalization.

With the fledgling industry dominated by white owners, Illinois has continued to work on measures to diversify the industry, partly justifying the fact that the state has one of the highest cannabis taxes in the country (most only after Washington). Accounts.) Last month, lawmakers approved a bill to create 110 more adult pharmacy licenses “for people seeking social justice – that is, from a black or brown community,” the legislation’s press release reads. The bill is awaiting the governor’s signature.

Not everyone the Chicago Sun Times spoke to saw the reasons behind the persecution of unlicensed cannabis sellers.

“Now that it’s legal, you should see that it’s not evil and that people just want to smoke some weed,” said an anonymous dealer from Chicago.

But these trends could reverse in the future. An industry analyst, Kacey Morrissey of New Frontier Data, predicted that licensed sales in Illinois would overtake unlicensed sales by the end of 2022, depending on whether state legalization takes place and legal cannabis prices continue to fall.