Illinois is going green.
According to reports, the state’s Democratic governor signed a bill Tuesday (June 25) legalizing the use of the recreational drug.
“As the first state in the nation to fully legalize adult-use cannabis through the legislative process, Illinois exemplifies the best of democracy: a bipartisan and deep commitment to better the lives of all of our people,” Gov. JB Pritzker said.
As a candidate, marijuana legalization was one of Pritzker campaign points and on May 31, the Illinois General Assembly passed a law also regulating the production of marijuana.
Gov. Pritzker said not only will marijuana be legal, but some 800,000 people who have a marijuana-related non-violent offense will now have their records expunged.
“Legalizing adult-use cannabis brings an important and overdue change to our state, and it’s the right thing to do. This legislation will clear the cannabis-related records of nonviolent offenders through an efficient combination of automatic expungement, gubernatorial pardon, and individual court action,” he said.
Along with Illinois, Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington), the District of Columbia, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam have all given Mary Jane the green light.
