Across the Chicago area, thousands lined up — some before dawn — for a chance to buy marijuana legally for the first time. The day featured long lines, a few glitches — and lots of happy customers.
“It’s history, so it’s worth the wait,” Damien Smith of Maywood said as he left MedMen dispensary in Oak Park with a bag of cannabis products after waiting in line for about four hours.
Illinois became the 11th state in the country, and also Washington D.C., where marijuana is sold legally without a prescription. Gov. J.B. Pritzker and his allies pushed the legalization effort through the legislature last year amid softening attitudes toward marijuana, and painting it as a just and financially sensible move to help the state’s tenuous finances.
The bill also included sweeping criminal justice reforms designed to help those whose lives have been upended by the state's drug laws.