Johnson, Pritzker at odds over whether to ban — or tax and regulate — hemp products
Mayor Brandon Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker apparently are starting the new year off the way they ended the old one, on a political collision course — this time, over whether and how to regulate delta-8 and other hemp-derived products.
Sales of the weedlike substances have increased, in part thanks to a loophole in federal law, prompting smoke shops that sell unregulated products to minors to pop up.
Pritzker has thrown his support behind a bill that would effectively ban most sales of the weed-like substances that have soared in popularity among high school students.
But the governor’s office acknowledged Monday that Johnson is now working against that bill, sponsored by state Sen. Kimberly Lightford, fearing it would deny the cash-strapped city sorely-needed revenue.
“Too many children have been hospitalized because of unregulated, intoxicating products and predatory sales tactics,” Pritzker spokesman Alex Gough was quoted as saying in a statement issued Monday.
“Instead of debating imaginary revenue strategies at the expense of children’s health, Governor Pritzker calls on all elected officials to uphold their responsibility to protect our children and support this bipartisan, commonsense and decisive action.”
Lightford’s bill passed the Illinois Senate on a 54-1 vote in the spring, but never made it to the statehouse floor. It’ll require a three-fifths House majority to pass it by the end of the lame duck session on Tuesday, and the Illinois House still might take action on Monday.
Johnson’s spokesperson Erin Connelly did not respond to a request for comment on Johnson’s decision to oppose both Lightford’s proposed statewide ban and a far more narrow attempt to ban the sale of unregulated tobacco products in two Southwest Side wards near Midway Airport.
The closest thing to an explanation for Johnson’s latest clash with both Pritzker and Ald. Marty Quinn (13th) came from Ald. William Hall (4th), who chaired the City Council’s revenue subcommittee at Johnson’s request.
Hall plans to hold a subject matter hearing later this month on his own pending ordinance that would regulate and tax Chicago’s estimated 260 hemp stores.
“Hemp is legal. What we’re witnessing is a black market that has excluded so many regulation partners as well as revenue partners,” said Hall.
“Other cities are getting it correct with both regulation as well as revenue. And so, the state stands to win. The county stands to win. And Chicago stands to win. … We want tough regulation first. And then, we want our revenue.”
The state faces a $3 billion shortfall. Johnson barely got his 2025 budget through an emboldened Council, which shot down his $300 million property tax increase and rejected two smaller increases. Next year’s budget struggle is likely to be infinitely worse.
Quinn is not willing to wait for the city and state to cut a revenue-sharing agreement that includes regulation of hemp products.
Over the mayor’s objections, he’s pushing for a vote at Tuesday’s License Committee meeting on an ordinance that would prohibit the sale of “cannabinoid hemp products” in a “Midway Residential Area” that includes all of the 13th and 23rd wards.
The ordinance also would prohibit the commissioner of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection from issuing “any new retail tobacco dealer license” or renewing “any existing tobacco dealer license for a retail tobacco store” within the designated area.
“I made the comment during my floor speech on the budget about the mayor working against my community. This is another example,” Quinn said.
“I’m full-steam ahead. If the mayor wants to get in the way, so be it. … I’ve heard from my state rep that he is fighting JB’s bill in Springfield because of revenue. So if he wants to choose revenue over the safety of Chicago kids, that’s his idea. I’m just fighting the good fight to protect my kids against people who want to make a quick buck at their expense.”
Ald. Silvana Tabares (23rd), who has a 7-year-old son, represents part of the designated area around Midway.
"I don't want to see shops where they're selling this type of drug paraphernalia next to where I buy my Happy Meal at McDonald's or get pizza on the weekend or where I take him to the dentist," she said.
State Rep. Angelica Guerrero Cuellar, D-Chicago, said her daughter is a student at Kennedy High School within the designated district.
"The kids think it's candy. The kids think they'll be able to handle it. They think that, if it's being sold, it's not that bad," Guerrero Cuellar said. "Kids don't understand how lethal these ingredients are."