Chicago

Everything You Need to Know About Legal Weed in Chicago

Jason Hoffman/Thrillist
Jason Hoffman/Thrillist
Jason Hoffman/Thrillist

Now that Illinois has become the 11th state to legalize the recreational use of cannabis, the Land of Lincoln is suddenly looking a whole lot greener. With 37 dispensaries currently selling recreational marijuana (including 10 in Chicago and 18 in the surrounding suburbs) as of the end of January, you’ve got plenty of options if you feel like now’s the time to stop having awkward conversations with your pot dealer and pay a visit to a professional budtender instead.
 
More than $3 million in sales on the first day of legalization and a whopping $19.7 million sold in the first 12 days meant Illinois had one of the largest openings of any state and made clear that there’s a large appetite for marijuana here. Yet while the product shortages and long lines prevalent during the opening weeks have decreased quite a bit, customers should still be prepared to wait in line for the next several months as demand is expected to continue to outstrip supply while local cannabis operators ramp up production as part of the state’s managed growth rollout.
 
To better understand the current status of legal marijuana in Illinois, we spoke to several experts in the field: Cannabis Business Association of Illinois Executive Director Pam Althoff; Illinois State Senator Heather Steans (D-Chicago), who was instrumental in passing the legislation that legalized recreational marijuana; Chris Slaby, Public Information Officer at the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, and Jason Erkes, spokesman for Chicago-based Cresco Labs, which operates several dispensaries and cultivation facilities across Illinois as the state’s largest cannabis operator.

What can I buy?

Illinois cannabis vendors offer the full suite of products from traditional bud (aka “flower”) and pre-rolled joints to vapes, edibles, concentrates, oils, topicals, capsules, tinctures, oral sprays, and yes, even suppositories. When you visit a dispensary in Illinois, everything is prepackaged and you’re not allowed to touch any of the products until after the point of purchase. “Illinois is a regulation-focused market,” said Erkes, “which can give people peace of mind for the quality of the product they’re buying.”
 
Illinois residents over 21 wishing to partake in the recreational program can purchase and possess up to 30 grams of cannabis flower, 5 grams of cannabis concentrate, and no more than 500 milligrams of THC contained in a cannabis-infused product per visit. (For those of you who don’t have your scales handy, 30 grams is roughly equivalent to an ounce of weed.) Non-Illinois residents over 21 may possess up to 15 grams of cannabis flower, 2.5 grams of cannabis concentrate, and no more than 250 milligrams of THC contained in a cannabis-infused product.

Canna Obscura/Shutterstock
Canna Obscura/Shutterstock
Canna Obscura/Shutterstock

Where can I buy it?

To begin the program, all of Illinois’ existing 55 medicinal dispensaries were allowed the option to also sell to recreational consumers, as well as the option to open an additional store. As of January 2020, there were 37 dispensaries selling recreational marijuana in Illinois. (Forty-eight have been licensed, but some are not up and running yet, while others are located in communities that have opted out of allowing recreational cannabis.)
 
There are currently 10 dispensaries in Chicago and 18 in the surrounding suburbs selling recreational marijuana (view the full list here). The Chicago locations are listed below:
 
Sunnyside, 3812 N. Clark Street
Dispensary 33, 5001 N. Clark Street
MOCA Modern Cannabis, 2847 N. Milwaukee Avenue
Maribis of Chicago, 4570 S. Archer Avenue
Columbia Care, 4758 N. Milwaukee Avenue
Mission Illinois, 8554 S. Commercial Avenue
The Herbal Care Center, 1301 S. Western Avenue
Midway Dispensary, 5648 S. Archer Avenue
Consume: Chicago, 6428 N. Milwaukee Avenue
Nu Med Chicago, 1308 W. North Avenue

How many new dispensaries will be opened in 2020? 

The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation will be issuing up to 75 new licenses by May 1, with 47 located in the Chicago area. Chicago is split into seven cannabis districts, with an initial cap of seven dispensaries per district (which may be increased to 14 per district by May 1). While the sale of cannabis will be prohibited in the “Downtown Exclusion Zone” in the Loop near the Downtown lakefront, several local dispensaries including Cresco Labs are already planning to open locations in the lucrative downtown market, some of which could be opened as early as spring.
 
Illinois’ capacity to grow cannabis via its 21 existing cultivation facilities (the same number that were in operation as part of the state’s medicinal program that began in 2014) is also being expanded, with the Illinois Department of Agriculture planning to award up to 40 licenses for smaller “craft” growers by July 1, with up to 60 additional grow facilities to be awarded by December 21. These new grow facilities will help alleviate some of the current product shortages, with most experts saying it will take six months to a year for the lines to get down to normal as more flower is produced and supply catches up with demand. “I believe in the next six months, you’ll see it come to a more balanced level between supply and demand,” said Althoff.

What else do I need to know? 

You can’t grow your own weed unless you’re a registered qualifying patient in the state’s medicinal cannabis program. Those registered in the program wishing to home grow must live in a household that owns the residence or have permission from the owner, and are limited to growing no more than five plants that are five inches or taller. You can’t transport any marijuana across any state lines ever, as is the case in all other states where marijuana is legal. Obviously, no smoking in public or while driving. Driving under the influence of marijuana remains illegal.
 
The legislation does allow local municipalities to create on-site consumption lounges, provided the facilities are attached to a current licensed dispensary or located in a site currently designed for such use such as a cigar lounge. At least one smoke lounge has already been approved in downstate Illinois (Illinois Supply & Provisions in Springfield) but none currently exist in Chicago, although the city is exploring the possibility of allowing consumption lounges in the near future.

How much money is involved?

With strong demand, a large population base, and some of the highest cannabis taxes in the country, which could be as high as 41.25% on recreational purchases, Illinois’ program could grow into one of the most lucrative in the country. The Illinois Department of Revenue is projecting “significant revenue growth as the cannabis market matures” according to a bill summary document, which projects revenue of $57 million in taxes and licensing fees in fiscal year 2020. That number is projected to jump to $140.5 million in fiscal year 2021 and $253.5 million in fiscal year 2022.
 
So where does all this money go? “Twenty-five percent of cannabis sales tax revenues will support the Restore, Reinvest and Renew (R3) program, which aims to address the impact of economic disinvestment, violence and the historical overuse of the criminal justice system,” said Slaby. Additionally, 35 percent will be transferred to the state’s general fund, 20 percent will go towards addressing substance abuse, prevention, and mental health concerns, while 10 percent will help pay the state’s backlog of unpaid bills.
 
Erkes said Illinois had the second biggest opening in its first month of any state to legalize marijuana besides California, with some customers waiting in line six to seven hours to make their first legal purchase in the initial few days following legalization. By the end of January, wait times had already decreased significantly, but lines are still expected for the next few months as supply slowly catches up with demand. “We’re all under construction now and expanding facilities, growing new plants,” said Erkes, “and I think that will bring a lot of new product to the market by spring.” 

What makes Illinois’ program different from other states?

Illinois is the first state to legalize marijuana by an act of the state legislature, and the program is noted for its focus on social equity as its main differentiating factor. This will allow those who have been disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs and those from lower-income communities to gain entry to the legal market, as well as having low-level criminal marijuana possession convictions and arrests expunged. Governor Pritzker has already expunged 11,000 convictions, and Steans said up to 770,000 criminal records could be expunged across the state in the coming years.
 
Social equity applications will also be prioritized in the next round of dispensary licensing, with the “craft grow” legislation aimed at allowing smaller-scale operations entry into the market. “The goal is creating more access so that the industry better reflects the diversity of the state of Illinois,” said Steans. “We’re hopefully setting the model for diversifying the industry.”
 
“Illinois had a far more successful launch of cannabis than many of the other states that have legalized, but this is about more than money, it’s about starting a new industry in a way that includes communities left behind for far too long. Members of those communities will have the opportunity to apply for licenses to open a dispensary, become a craft grower or infuser, or transport product under the new law. Illinois is the only state in the country to take an equity-centric approach to the legalization of cannabis and I thank all those who worked hard to make the launch a success,” said Toi Hutchinson, Senior Advisor to Governor Pritzker for Cannabis Control, in a statement.

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Jay Gentile is an award-winning freelance journalist specializing in travel, food & drink, culture, events and entertainment stories. In addition to Thrillist, you can find his work in The Washington Post, The Guardian, CNN Travel, Chicago Tribune, Lonely Planet, VICE, Outside Magazine, and more. Follow @thejaygentile

Chicago

Robyn DaCultyre Is Doing It for the Culture

"The cool thing about Ohio is that there is literally a place for everyone."

Photo by Kayode Omoyosi
Photo by Kayode Omoyosi
Photo by Kayode Omoyosi

I was introduced to Robyn DaCultyre at an Untitled Queen show at C’mon Everybody in late January, and it was one of the most unique drag shows I’d seen in a while. Afterwards, I tracked down this self-described “drag creature” and video chatted about her drag origin story, the state of drag in her native Ohio, and the dual identities that make up her persona. Thrillist: I want to ask you about how Robyn DaCultyre came about and your point of view behind your performance.

Robyn DaCultyre: I’ve been travelling around the country from a young age in ministry and Christian studies. I moved to Chicago right after high school. Four years later, moved back to Columbus and decided I didn’t really want to do church anymore; that wasn’t where my heart was.

I had a really low point in my life and had a suicide attempt and then really found drag and started doing drag as a coping mechanism and way to let off steam. I started in July of 2019, and it was really a lot of punk and metal music. I created this drag creature of sorts and they were really out of this world and celestial and all of those fun alien type terms.

And then we went into a global pandemic and I had a lot of time to figure out who I wanted to be. Digitally I was still doing a lot of drag creature-esque numbers and all of that, but I had this moment where we’re on the front lines getting hit with pepper spray and rubber bullets and pepper spray-all of those lovely things. And I said, I have this platform and I need to start showcasing what’s happening.

Untitled [Queen] stepped in at the right time and messaged me and said, “I’m doing this show for Independence Day called Untitled in America with 52 different performers and I want you to be a part of it.” It was at that moment I was able to take the footage I had been recording on the front lines and incorporate it into digital content. I did a song called Black Like Me by Mickey Guyton that talks about white picket fences, but if you want to see how America is, then you should try being Black like me. The imagery of what’s literally happening in Columbus in that digital performance really spearheaded me into focusing on people who look like me.

Nina Simone is one of my biggest inspirations, and one of her quotes that resonates with me is that it’s the duty of the artist to resonate with the times. My art is politically charged. I like to entertain, but there will definitely be a time when you come to a show expecting to have your drink and be chill and that might not be the case.

How did the name Robyn DaCultyre come about?

I was smoking with Ursula Major, who was on season one of Dragula, and the first time I introduced myself to her I was Robyn Banks, which is my drag name originally. She said, “Well, do you just not want to be original at all?” [Laughs] And I sat with that for a couple of months, and I got really stoned one day and was listening to Janelle Monae, and she talks about doing it for the culture, and I said “I do it for the culture, too!” And the rest is history.

And you started a series called Melanated.

We started Melanated last February. I told the idea to my show director that there were no shows specifically run by Black people that only featured Black entertainers. I wanted to do this show for a night and she said, Why don’t we do it once a week for the whole month? The first show happens, and it’s a sold out crowd, and [my director] comes back and says we should do this every month. So I sucked it up and here we are a year later.

Melanated is the only fully Black show in all of the state. It’s a horrible marketing tool and not something I want to promote, but it is just a fact. It amazes me that we are the 13th largest city in America and there’s nothing here that’s fully focused on Black entertainers. The name also comes from Janelle Monae; she says she’s highly melanated and I said, that works.

Photos by Chay Creates LLC (left) and Bridget Caswell (right)
Photos by Chay Creates LLC (left) and Bridget Caswell (right)
Photos by Chay Creates LLC (left) and Bridget Caswell (right)

You refer to yourself as a drag creature, as opposed to drag queen or king…

This is actually the first time I’m making this public. I am in this place where I want to separate the alternative creature from who this melanated goddess or whatever is. DaCultyre is definitely the person who runs Melanated and then Robyn is this drag creature that is out of this world and really loves punk and alternative music. And both intertwine to make Robyn DaCultyre.

You also do pageants. Tell me about that.

In 2020 I was appointed by Nina West, who is from Columbus, as the representative from Ohio for National Entertainer of the Year in Louisville, Kentucky. I placed ninth out of 13 contestants and I really fell in love with the system and fell in love with the pageantry and loved the idea of reigning and being different. I want to show that we as alternative performers, as bearded performers, you can come into these systems and shake things up.

Is there a uniquely “Ohio” style of drag?

No, and I think that’s one of the things that makes it so amazing is that everyone has their own unique style, and it’s all pretty much accepted. I started as a performer and a drag creature and there was space that was afforded to me and I transitioned to more glamor and pageantry and that’s afforded to me as well. I’ve been a bearded entertainer for a year now. The cool thing about Ohio is that there is literally a place for everyone.

I think I have everything I need. Is there anything else I didn’t ask you about that you want to bring up, or…

I don’t think so. Are there any generic questions you haven’t asked?

Generic questions…I think I asked all of them already [laughs]. I like to ask what you’d be doing if you weren’t doing drag?

It’s a great question. I have a day job that is very demanding so I need drag to get away. I’m also very creative and artistic. I used to do web design and all these other things to pull into my creativity. Drag is the longest thing I’ve stuck with in all parts of my life, so I don’t think it’s going anywhere anytime soon.

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John deBary is a drinks expert and writer. His first cocktail book, Drink What You Want, is available now, and his next book, Saved by the Bellini, is expected in early 2023. He is also the co-founder and president of the Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation, which is dedicated to improving the lives of hospitality industry professionals through advocacy, grant making, and impact investing.

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