Effective at the end of July, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner signed into law decriminalization efforts regarding marijuana possession. Under the new law possession of 10 grams of marijuana or less is now punishable by fines of $100 to $200, instead of jail time. Illinois law previously made possession of up to 10 grams of marijuana a class B misdemeanor that carried up to six months in jail and fines up to $1,500.[i]
Illinois now joins 20 other states and the District of Columbia which have decriminalized small amounts of marijuana. Rauner, a Republican, signed the law after using an amendatory veto on a measure last year that he said included too small a fine and allowed for the possession of too much of the drug. Rauner’s new law came less than two weeks before the Obama administration eased restrictions on marijuana research.
By Kevin Thompson Regional Evaluator Region 9 Prevention Resource Center kthompson@pbrcada.org
[i] Katie Reilly, “Illinois is the latest state to decriminalize small amounts of marijauana,” TIME, July 30, 2016, http://time.com/4431893/illinois-marijuana-decriminalization-bruce-rauner/
Published August 11, 2016.