伊利諾伊州的新州長于6月23日兌現了他在競選中做出的重大承諾，簽署了一項立法，讓該州成為了全美第11個批準大麻娛樂用途的州。該立法還將為少數群體提供法律補救措施和經濟效益。批評人士此前曾說，對大麻使用肆意妄為的打擊破壞了這些少數群體的生活。

此外，一旦伊利諾伊州大麻合法化，近80萬因為購買或持有30克或以下大麻而被定罪的人將會消除其犯罪記錄，而這也是少數立法人士和利益團體所提出的一項要求。法案還將為少數群體所有者提供大麻經銷商優惠，同時還承諾將25%的大麻銷售稅金用于重新開發那些貧困社區。

州長普利茨克去年的當選讓民主黨獲得了對州政府的徹底控制，但在過去的四年期間，掌權的一直是其前任、身為共和黨的布魯斯·羅勒。普利茨克在一群大麻支持者的見證下于芝加哥簽署了這一法案，其中包括該法案的主要發起人凱利·卡斯蒂眾議員和參議員西澤·斯蒂恩斯，這兩位都是芝加哥民主黨。

卡斯蒂說：“今天，我們點擊了打擊毒品的‘重啟’鍵。”

該州居民可以一次性購買和持有不超過1盎司（30克）大麻。非居民可持有15克。法律允許21歲或以上的成年人在獲批藥房購買大麻。這些藥房在獲得牌照和設立之后，預計將于2020年1月1日開始銷售大麻。參議院民主黨的一位發言人指出，在明年1月1日之前持有大麻依然是犯法的。

普利茨克說：“打擊大麻的運動破壞了不少家庭，監獄里也因此而增加了不少非暴力犯罪人員，而且在很大程度上干擾了黑色和棕色人群的生活。為了打擊大麻犯罪，全美執法機構耗費了數十億美元，但大麻消費依然大有人在。”

在選舉活動期間，普利茨克曾稱，一旦法案通過，大麻銷售每年可以帶來8到10億美元的稅收。他說，藥房銷售一項在明年就能夠創造1.7億美元的收入。但卡斯蒂和斯特恩斯在預測時則較為保守，將第一年的預估值調低至5800萬美元，今后五年的年營收估值調低至5億美元。

大麻含有作用于精神方面的物質THC。1937年，美國實際上已經宣布其為非法；并于20世紀70年代認定大麻是一種沒有醫療效用、濫用風險高的毒品。

自此之后，由于“堅決說不”的時代的結束，黑人成為了受此影響最大的人群。普利茨克引用了來自于美國民權聯盟的2010年數據：盡管黑人只占據伊利諾伊州人口的15%，但在大麻持有者被捕的案件中，60%都是黑人。

皮奧瑞亞眾議院民主黨吉安·戈登-布斯將大麻的近代史總結為“白人致富，黑人被捕”。該法案通過在特困以及有著大量犯罪記錄的地區給予大麻經銷商優惠的方式，消除了人們有關犯罪記錄清除的疑慮。25%的大麻銷售稅金必須重新投資到這些貧困社區，另外還有20%的稅金將專門用于濫用藥物治療項目。

戈登-布斯說：“我們要做的就是對此進行補救。在過去40年的時間中，我們把所有使用大麻的人當成罪犯來看待，然后這個數十億美元的產業出現了，猜猜會怎么樣？黑人和棕色人種成為了這項政策的重點關注對象，其他州從未這么做過。”

警察部門對此十分謹慎，他們對執行吸毒后駕車的法律十分擔心，而且認為測試大麻對駕車副作用的技術還有待進一步的開發。執法機構則擔心，黑市的沖擊曾經成功地扼殺了早期的法案，即允許任何人在家里種植5顆個人用大麻。警察表示他們很難執法，因此立法者對法案進行了修改，僅允許依據州醫用大麻法律授權的病人才可以種植5顆大麻。此前，私人種植大麻屬于違法。

其他10各個州以及哥倫比亞特區自2012年便已經實現了娛樂用大麻吸食的合法化，當時科羅拉多州和華盛頓州的選民同意圍繞這一議題開展公投。今年伊始，紐約州和新澤西州拿出了頗有希望的提案，但在今年春天均以失敗告終。盡管賓夕法尼亞州的副州長于去年冬天圍繞這一議題在全州發起了“傾聽之旅”活動，但這一構想并未引發多大的重視。

佛蒙特州和密歇根州是去年新近實現大麻合法化的兩個州。佛蒙特州通過立法實現了其合法化（首次采用非公投的方式實現）。盡管該立法允許居民小批量種植自用大麻，但該州并未像伊利諾伊州那樣向藥房發放牌照，并借此建立全州范圍內的分銷系統。其他州也向藥房發放了牌照，但并非是所有的州。

卡斯蒂指出，伊利諾伊州首批獲得牌照的55家醫用大麻藥房將根據新法銷售大麻，因為它們會帶來實實在在的商業問題。它們可能會申請在其當前店面銷售娛樂用大麻，然后為另一個店面申請牌照，這意味著到明年1月1日開始銷售大麻時，該州可能會出現110家娛樂用大麻銷售網點。今年10月，伊利諾伊州政府將開始接受針對額外75個大麻銷售牌照的申請，但該州在對實施情況做出評估之前不會提供更多的牌照。（財富中文網）

譯者：馮豐

審校：夏林

Illinois’ new governor delivered on a top campaign promise June 23 by signing legislation making the state the 11th to approve marijuana for recreational use in a program offering legal remedies and economic benefits to minorities whose lives critics say were damaged by a wayward war on drugs.

Legalization in Illinois also means that nearly 800,000 people with criminal records for purchasing or possessing 30 grams of marijuana or less may have those records expunged, a provision minority lawmakers and interest groups demanded. It also gives cannabis-vendor preference to minority owners and promises 25% of tax revenue from marijuana sales to redevelop impoverished communities.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker, whose election last year gave Democrats complete control over state government again after four years under GOP predecessor Bruce Rauner, signed the bill in Chicago amid a bevy of pot proponents, including the plan’s lead sponsors, Rep. Kelly Cassidy and Sen. Heather Steans, both Chicago Democrats.

“Today, we’re hitting the ‘reset’ button on the war on drugs,” Cassidy said.

Residents may purchase and possess up to 1 ounce (30 grams) of marijuana at a time. Non-residents may have 15 grams. The law provides for cannabis purchases by adults 21 and older at approved dispensaries, which, after they’re licensed and established, may start selling Jan. 1, 2020. Possession remains a crime until Jan. 1, a spokesman for Senate Democrats said.

“The war on cannabis has destroyed families, filled prisons with nonviolent offenders, and disproportionately disrupted black and brown communities,” Pritzker said. “Law enforcement across the nation has spent billions of dollars to enforce the criminalization of cannabis, yet its consumption remains widespread.”

On the campaign trail, Pritzker claimed that, once established, taxation of marijuana could generate $800 million to $1 billion a year. He said dispensary licensing would bring in $170 million in the coming year alone. But Cassidy and Steans have dampened that prediction, lowering estimates to $58 million in the first year and $500 million annually within five years.

Carrying the psychoactive ingredient THC, marijuana was effectively outlawed in the U.S. in 1937 and in the 1970s was declared a drug with no medicinal purpose and high potential for abuse.

Blacks have been most susceptible since then to “Just say ‘No”’-era crackdowns. Pritzker quoted a 2010 statistic from the American Civil Liberties Union that while blacks comprise 15% of Illinois’ population, they account for 60% of cannabis-possession arrests.

Peoria Democratic Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth summarized marijuana’s recent history as one where “white men would get rich and black men would get arrested.” The plan addresses those concerns with the criminal-record scrubbing by giving preference to would-be marijuana vendors in areas of high poverty and records of large numbers of convictions. And 25% of tax proceeds must be reinvested in impoverished communities, while 20% is dedicated to substance-abuse treatment programs.

“What we are doing here is about reparations,” Gordon-Booth said. “After 40 years of treating entire communities like criminals, here comes this multibillion-dollar industry, and guess what? Black and brown people have been put at the very center of this policy in a way that no other state has ever done.”

Police organizations are wary, concerned about enforcing driving under the influence laws and arguing technology for testing marijuana impairment needs more development. Law enforcement organizations fearing black-market impacts were successful in killing an earlier provision that would have allowed anyone to grow up to five marijuana plants at home for personal use. Police said they’d have difficulty enforcing that, so the bill was amended to allow five plants to be maintained only by authorized patients under the state’s medical marijuana law. They previously could not grow their own.

Ten other states and the District of Columbia have legalized smoking or eating marijuana for recreational use since 2012, when voters in Colorado and Washington state approved ballot initiatives. This year began with promising proposals in New Yorkand New Jersey , but both fizzled late this spring. Despite a statewide listening tour on the issue by Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor last winter, the idea never took flight.

Vermont and Michigan last year were the latest states to legalize marijuana. Vermont did so through the Legislature — the first time it wasn’t done through a ballot initiative — but while it allows residents to grow small amounts for themselves, it didn’t establish a statewide distribution system like Illinois did, licensing dispensaries. Other states license dispensaries too, but not all.

Illinois’ 55 medical-cannabis dispensaries get first crack at licenses to sell under the new law because they’re proven business concerns, Cassidy said. They may apply to dispense recreational pot at their current stores and for a license for a second location, meaning the state could have 110 recreational pot outlets by the time sales start Jan. 1. In October, the application period for 75 more dispensaries opens. No more would be allowed to open after that until the state conducts a review of the rollout.