Holds office Governor
In 2019, Governor Pritzker signed into law House Bill 1438 (aka the cannabis Regulation and Taxation Act), which regulates the production, use, and retail sale of cannabis by adults. It also facilitates the automatic expungement of low-level marijuana convictions, decriminalizes home cultivation by adults, and legalizes personal cultivation for qualified patients. Governor Pritzker is the first elected official to ever sign comprehensive, adult-use marijuana legalization into law. (Similar laws in other states had all been enacted via voter initiative). (Link)
On December 31, 2019, Gov. Pritzker’s office issued over 11,000 pardons to those with low-level marijuana convictions. (Link)
In 2019, the Governor also signed several separate bills expanding the state’s medical cannabis access law. Senate Bill 2023 adds new qualifying conditions to the access program and permits physicians assistants to issue medical marijuana recommendations. Senate Bill 455 permits qualified patients to access certain medicinal cannabis products while on school grounds.
"At first blush and without the data in front of me, I think that as long as its regulated, as long as we make sure that the person who is ordering gets it and that they are legally allowed to, then it would seem to me the same as somebody coming into a store." 12/7/2022
"When we legalized cannabis, we made a point to take steps to repair the damage of the past. We’ve got more to do, but we’ve expunged the records of more than 800k non-violent offenders and are reinvesting revenues in communities hardest hit by the war on drugs." 10/18/2022
"The Illinois Adult-Use Cannabis Social Equity Program is ushering in a new era of equity and justice. Illinois’ craft grower licenses are creating thousands of well-paying jobs across the state and hundreds of millions in revenue." (10/5/2022)
"Pritzker countered by pointing to the bipartisan accomplishments of his administration, including his first budget, the legalization of recreational marijuana and a $45 billion infrastructure plan that funded road, bridge, building and other projects across the state." (9/30/2022)
"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," said Gov. JB Pritzker. "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. I'm so proud that our state is leading with equity and justice in its approach to cannabis legalization and its regulatory framework. Because of the work of the people here today and so many more all across our state, Illinois is moving forward with empathy and hope." 6/25/22
“The purpose of this legislation is not to immediately make cannabis widely available or to maximize product on the shelves. Instead, the defining purpose of legalization is to maximize equity.” (Link) 2019
“[W]hen you’re buying an illegal product from an illegal seller, that illegal seller is also selling other illegal drugs. And so I think the availability of cannabis is making it safer for families for for people who are looking to consume, because they can go to a regulated dispensary and purchase a well manufactured product that is safe.” (Link) 2019
207 State House
Springfield, IL 62706