Illinois Sparks New Year With 1st Day of Legal Marijuana Bringing Long Lines and Happy Buyers
Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton reacts after purchasing recreational marijuana at Sunnyside Dispensary Wednesday in Chicago. (Paul Beaty/AP)
(IBEXNews) – Marijuana became legal in Illinois on Wednesday, and exultant cannabis fans in the state hit dispensaries with party-like atmospheres. Patrons at the pot-selling joints shrugged off the long lines that accompanied the occasion.
“I’ve waited for 50 years,” Don Bransford, 71, told the Chicago Tribune, providing some perspective on his more than three-hour wait at the Mission Marijuana Dispensary on Chicago’s South Side.
The state’s lawmakers decided it was high time to legalize pot last year.
A total of 37 state-licensed pot shops ― formerly only allowed to sell medical marijuana ― started hawking cannabis around 6 a.m., according to the Tribune. Many of the stores didn’t get the green-light to sell the green plant to the masses until the last minute.
Smoking pot in public remains outlawed in the Land of Lincoln, but people over 21 are permitted to purchase the drug at licensed shops. Illinois was the 11th state to legalize recreational pot.
Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton joined happy buyers who headed to the shops, dropping in at the Sunnyside Dispensary on Chicago’s North Side to make a purchase.
“For too long, IL residents, particularly those that are black & brown, have been targeted and criminalized for #cannabis possession,” Stratton said in a tweet. “It’s not just a new year, it’s a new day.”
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