Illinois House Committee Gives Unanimous Approval of Decriminalization Bill

[Crohnie]

An Illinois House Committee unanimously approved House Bill 4299 about a week ago. It seeks to make the possession of up to 30 grams a civil offense, the penalty being a $100 ticket. The bill would also decriminalize "manufacturing or delivering" up to 10 grams of cannabis or for possessing up to 5 plants. Again, a civil offense with a $100 ticket.

This may not sound like much to those who live in Colorado, California, etc, but for Illinois, it's a BIG improvement. For the sake of comparison, these are the PRESENT penalties in Illinois:



2.5 grams or less: Misdemeanor Up to 30 days in jail
2.5-10 grams: Misdemeanor Up to 6 months in jail
10-30 grams(1st offense) Misdemeanor Up to 1 year in jail
10-30 grams(Subsequent offense) Felony 1-3 years in jail Up to $25,000 fine
30-500 grams(1st offense) Felony 1-3 years in jail Up to $25,ooo fine
30-500 grams(Subsequent offense) Felony 2-5 years in jail Up to $25,000 fine


Sale of 10 grams or less is a misdemeanor, punishable by a jail sentence of up to a year. Sale of more than 10 grams is a felony with penalties from 1-30 years in jail and fines from $25,000- $250,000.


Growing less than 5 plants: Misdemeanor Up to 1 year in jail
Growing 5-20 plants: Felony 1-3 years in jail Up to $25,000 fine
Growing 20-50 plants: Felony 2-5 years in jail Up to $25,000 fine
Growing 50-200 plants: Felony 3-7 years in jail Up to $100,000 fine
More than 200 plants: Felony 4-20 years in jail Up to $100,000 fine


The bill will now be sent to the full Illinois House for a vote. If it passes in the House, chances are it will become law. Not legalization, but it's something.

 

[Madcap79]

Yay our state! They are also trying to expand the medical program a little too. I hope they can get PTSD on there. I think that would be a great help for our troops coming back from deployment. Fingers are crossed.

 

[Magic9]

I don't see this becoming law any time soon. I love that they are trying, but I've seen IL politics for too long. Time to get my dialing finger ready though.

 

[aesthyrian]

Money speaks and the numbers for Colorado's tax revenue from just the first month alone has to be quite appealing to a state with one of the worst budget deficits in the nation. Legalization would make sense if they are that supportive of decriminalizing it, why not make tax revenue?

But this is Illinois... err Chicago politics. Sense need not apply.

Great to see steps finally being made. Seems after the medical bill finally got passed, everything is now just starting to fall into place.

 

[Crohnie]

I don't see this becoming law any time soon. I love that they are trying, but I've seen IL politics for too long. Time to get my dialing finger ready though.

I share your skepticism, but the circumstances have changed a bit in Illinois. Remember how difficult it was to get the medical bill through the House? It passed the Senate, but the House voted it down 3 times before finally passing it on the 4th try. For this bill, the House committee gave UNANIMOUS approval for the bill to go forward for a full vote in the House. The medical bill didn't get that kind of support at this stage...not even close. The 2014 elections also changed the composition of the House to a more favorable (Read Democratic) group of legislators.

Will it pass the first time around? Probably not. But it WILL pass in the next few years.

 

[t-dub]

Folks, please keep in your thoughts that PTSD is not limited to combat veterans. I love these threads and their positive vibes but open your minds to other possibilities. I am currently in EMDR therapy and it is fucking incredible. I may or may not write about it any more but I was moved to comment.

 

[Crohnie]

A recent poll showed that 63% of Illinois residents support decriminalization with only 27% opposed.

Legalization would be better, but if you know Illinois politics, you know it's not happening anytime soon.

 

[Madcap79]

What a dumb state we live in. I hope we're pleasantly surprised.

 

[herbivore21]

Folks, please keep in your thoughts that PTSD is not limited to combat veterans. I love these threads and their positive vibes but open your minds to other possibilities. I am currently in EMDR therapy and it is fucking incredible. I may or may not write about it any more but I was moved to comment.

As somebody with more than one loved one effected by PTSD and neither due to military service, I can't second this post enough! PTSD is still debilitating whether you got it whilst out fighting with people or whether you got it from any other incident. Untreated PTSD is really not what anyone needs. Treatment should be a top priority! [/rant]

 

[Egzoset]

Salutations Crohnie,

A recent poll showed that 63% of Illinois residents support decriminalization with only 27% opposed.

From my perspective it seems 27 % of anti-cannabic warriors is a lot, well if you include any of those bigots who meet the wider definition. That's over 1 person among 4, only 1 more and it shall lead to some ambigous situation...

Legalization would be better, but if you know Illinois politics, you know it's not happening anytime soon.

There are anti-cannabic warriors everywhere, here in my little remote town i don't need to search long to find persons who are convinced the government's attitude toward cannabis is correct.

IMO it would help our cause if some part of the cannabic money could be used to educate, via a cable TV cannel for example. Grandma still ain't going to listen if the programs make us look like junkies, but what if Hollywood stars make appearances in cannabic culinary shows, or whatever along such lines that a guy can imagine... With so much crap on cable and satelite TV grandma just might be tempted to watch the cannabic cooks doing their magic. Well, i'm in hypothetic mode here. You get the idea.

In short my fear is that in North America we're all facing the next breed of Prohibition. Cannabic money is still used today to fight against our community(ies) continent wide, maybe it would be nice if some of that money in "legal" US states (someday in "legal" cannuck provinces too, i hope!), euh... well, i'd like that if legit cannabic money could help with pro-cannabic education, via TV with popular actors the viewers love already...

Gee, whatch out with that Pure-x stuff!

 

[Crohnie]

Sorry it's been so long since I updated this. The Illinois House and Senate don't resume their legislative session until January 2015. Since the decriminalization bill (Illinois HB 4299) was already pretty far along when the 2014 session ended in May, we should have some news in about 6 months.

While Governor Quinn is opposed to outright legalization in Illinois, he is "not opposed to decriminalization." This is exactly the phrase he used about medical marijuana before he signed the bill. I think it's safe to say he supports it. Since even the House Committee gave unanimous approval (they were always the ones opposing the medical bill in the past), I believe it will pass. The results of the 2012 election changed the composition of the Illinois House to one more favorable toward Cannabis.

As you can see from what I posted above, Illinois' PRESENT laws concerning cannabis are fairly harsh. Here's the proposed law's penalties:

Possession:

1. 30 grams or less is a petty (civil) offense. Maximum fine $100
2. More than 30 grams but less than 500 grams is a class A misdemeanor.
3. More than 500 grams is a felony. Maximum fine and jail sentence unknown at this time.

Selling:

1. 10 grams or less is a petty (civil) offense. Maximum fine $100
2. More than 10 grams but less than 30 grams is a class A misdemeanor.
3. More than 30 grams is a felony. Maximum fine and jail sentence unknown at this time.

3. Growing:

1. 5 plants or less is a petty (civil) offense. Maximum fine $100.
2. More than 5 plants but less than 20 is a class A misdemeanor.
3. More than 20 plants is a felony. Maximum fine and jail sentence is unknown at this time.

Although the bill itself doesn't mention the penalties for a "class A misdemeanor", Illinois law generally sets the maximum at a fine of $2500 and a prison sentence of less than a year. It's NOT legalization, but for Illinois, it's definite progress. Don't expect to see legalization in Illinois before 2020.